Future of work
ILO discusses the future of digital skills at European Tech Futures Summit
During the Summit in the European Parliament, the ILO discussed the societal transformations brought by digital technologies in the world of work and how workers’ digital skills can be trained.
16 November 2022
Ekkehard Ernst, Chief Macroeconomic policies and jobs at the ILO, discussed the future of work through digital skills at an event entitled ‘Digital skills, tech education & talent: the future of jobs’. This event was part of the European Tech Futures Summit which discussed how technology and innovation are shaping our present into a multitude of potential futures.
The event focused on the changes affecting the job market, the possibilities of technology and innovation in changing digital skills, and the evolution of the future of work in the next decades.
“As digital technologies evolve rapidly, with new platforms emerging and ever more complex tools being introduced, the regular updating of essential knowledge about these technologies becomes a necessity,” Mr Ernst said.
He cited several societal transformations which digital tools have brought about, such as the transformation of jobs and the job market, and the transformation of social interactions. To keep up with these transformations, he pointed to the need to equip workers with the right complementary digital skills allowing for a fast transition between jobs, to introduce new support schemes to train workers, to offer education at a low (opportunity) cost for employees, and to train them on how to use new digital tools and devices whilst also understanding their limitations.
“Related to these societal transformations is a need for collaboration to document, assess and analyse the extent to which digital tools are transforming our societies and – if necessary – to be able to take action,” Ernst said. Bringing together people from different disciplines would allow for a better reflection on the social implications of digital tools.
A better understanding of the societal transformations brought by digital tools offers many opportunities to address the existing challenges to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. “Only when users see the benefits of these new tools and have easy access to them, will they be ready to use them and contribute to create society-wide benefits,” Ernst said.
He also addressed the challenge of the concentration in the tech sector, whereby top talent is hired by a few firms and regular training is solely accessible to few. As a result, many companies lag behind in terms of their digital transformation, and many employees are left with only a limited understanding of digital technologies. “When large parts of the population do not have access to up-to-date digital training, the digital transformation will remain limited in many countries,” he concluded.
The event focused on the changes affecting the job market, the possibilities of technology and innovation in changing digital skills, and the evolution of the future of work in the next decades.
“As digital technologies evolve rapidly, with new platforms emerging and ever more complex tools being introduced, the regular updating of essential knowledge about these technologies becomes a necessity,” Mr Ernst said.
He cited several societal transformations which digital tools have brought about, such as the transformation of jobs and the job market, and the transformation of social interactions. To keep up with these transformations, he pointed to the need to equip workers with the right complementary digital skills allowing for a fast transition between jobs, to introduce new support schemes to train workers, to offer education at a low (opportunity) cost for employees, and to train them on how to use new digital tools and devices whilst also understanding their limitations.
“Related to these societal transformations is a need for collaboration to document, assess and analyse the extent to which digital tools are transforming our societies and – if necessary – to be able to take action,” Ernst said. Bringing together people from different disciplines would allow for a better reflection on the social implications of digital tools.
A better understanding of the societal transformations brought by digital tools offers many opportunities to address the existing challenges to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. “Only when users see the benefits of these new tools and have easy access to them, will they be ready to use them and contribute to create society-wide benefits,” Ernst said.
He also addressed the challenge of the concentration in the tech sector, whereby top talent is hired by a few firms and regular training is solely accessible to few. As a result, many companies lag behind in terms of their digital transformation, and many employees are left with only a limited understanding of digital technologies. “When large parts of the population do not have access to up-to-date digital training, the digital transformation will remain limited in many countries,” he concluded.