Working Online: The Importance of Digital Skills

Today, it is essential to have the right digital skills to stay competitive and work online by leveraging digital technologies

Today, it is essential to have the right digital skills to be competitive and work online by leveraging the potential of digital technologies

The evolution of digital technology is a revolution that touches every sphere of life, from relationships to consumerism, from schooling to work. It has changed the way we work, how we build relationships, how we shop, learn, and acquire knowledge. Everyone must adapt to these changes and acquire new skills to keep up. We’re talking about the now-famous digital skills, a universe of abilities that, like technology itself, constantly evolve; staying up to date is the only solution. These are both technological and relational skills – also called digital hard and soft skills – that enable professionals, consumers, and students to effectively use new digital tools for any purpose: from creating content to searching for information, from software development to buying favorite products, from data protection to using social networks.

The digital gap

While digital tools have become part of daily life, in the work sphere, knowing and using these tools has become absolutely essential for all professionals. According to a European Union estimate, 90% of jobs require at least basic digital skills, yet in 2019, over 75 million working-age EU citizens lacked them. It’s no surprise that the EU Commission set the goal for 70% of citizens to have basic digital skills by 2025. Such a gap, known as the digital gap, if left unaddressed, could lead to a real skills crisis and a collapse of the job system. Therefore, not just citizens and individual workers but especially companies must promote a true digital culture.

What are digital skills?

For basic skills, the EU defines them as: “basic skills in information and communication technologies: using computers to retrieve, evaluate, store, produce, present, and exchange information as well as to communicate and participate in collaborative networks via the Internet.” This general definition mostly applies to digital literacy for keeping up with the times. However, there’s also a more complex set of intermediate and advanced skills for the workplace. Intermediate skills involve more specific uses of digital tools, requiring not only knowledge of tools but also critical use to fully exploit their benefits. For example, these skills are necessary for digital marketing, creating and publishing content, web, graphic, and visual design. Advanced skills are more technical and refer to highly specialized tasks like programming, developing and managing IT systems and applications, cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence.

The value of digital skills is in their convenience

As we discussed in a previous article, digital work allows workers to organize their work life more efficiently and conveniently, bringing great returns for companies as well, which enjoy more satisfied and productive workforces, boosting company profitability. Examples include: online access to documents enabling remote work, advanced software making tasks easier, and online learning opportunities – all of which improve workflows and increase chances of achieving excellent results.

The digital hard and soft skills

But to be truly digital and compete in the market, you need both technical and personal skills. As LinkedIn’s Senior Director of Human Resources, Wendy Murphy, notes: “Both hard and soft skills combined are extremely important to progress in the digital world. We don’t know what the future will be like, so having people with resilience and the ability to adapt quickly and keep learning to drive company progress is incredibly important.” Hard skills are more specific and vary by profession, while soft skills are universal, concerning personal and behavioral abilities. So what are the most important digital soft skills to invest in for time, effort, and resources – for both businesses and workers? Here are the main ones, though this list will inevitably keep evolving as technology and work change. 1. Digital identity: your online reputation. Being online means being visible and reachable by anyone; it’s vital to manage and curate this presence. 2. Digital use: you need mental flexibility to use constantly changing devices and systems, find and critically assess information online, and create credible, valuable content. 3. Digital safety and security: recognizing risks such as cyberbullying, radicalization, hacking, scams, or malware, and knowing how to protect yourself. 4. Digital emotional intelligence: developing empathy in the digital space, or the emotional intelligence to build human relationships even behind a screen. 5. Digital communication: the ability to communicate, collaborate, and be understood via digital media, using proper netiquette in different contexts, from work to client interactions.

Digital professions: endless possibilities

In the future, the labor market will increasingly demand digital skills as a distinguishing factor for both companies and professionals wanting to stay ahead. But even today, thanks to the growth of the digital economy, digital professions are rapidly increasing, alongside the rise of freelance workers: a social phenomenon that especially involves young people who, empowered by technology and modern work models, are eager to build independent, fulfilling careers – choosing when, where, and how they work, like many digital nomads already do. According to Upwork (a freelance job platform), within the next 10 years, 73% of teams will be working remotely. Forbes recently published a list of 55 digital professions easily started with proper training: online teaching, copywriting, ghostwriting, translation, web design, social media marketing, photo/video editing, programming, SEO. Becoming a specialist in these fields, knowing how to navigate the online world for visibility, networking, and joining online communities can open the doors to an innovative, profitable, and experience-rich way of working and living. Don’t miss this opportunity – grow your skills!