Digital Skills Outlook (2024) – The most in-demand across all 15 countries is Microsoft Office, followed by Microsoft Excel and SAP applications

The digital revolution is affecting labour markets in profound ways, both in terms of specialised IT jobs where the constant emergence of new technologies guarantees change, and on a more general level, with most jobs now requiring competence in basic computer software. Research from the US-based National Skills Coalition suggested that 92% of jobs now require at least some digital skills, while a 2023 Gallup and Amazon study, which used Lightcast data, found the total annual global value of digital skills to be around $18.5 trillion – 12% of global GDP. Yet although digital skills are clearly vital, there are often large gaps between the expectations of employers regarding digital skills and what they are finding in the labour market. For instance, according to the European Commission, 70% of businesses in Europe have said that a lack of digital skills is an obstacle to investment, and 40% of adults in Europe lack basic digital skills.

The prerequisite to closing these digital skills gaps is to first understand what it is that employers need. The Lightcast Digital Skills Outlook 2024 is a highly interactive page that uses our unparalleled skills insights to highlight a number of key trends in the digital skills revolution across 15 global labour markets we are working in.

Key takeaways include:

• The most in-demand digital skill across all 15 countries is Microsoft Office, followed by Microsoft Excel and SAP applications. The country with the highest percentage of job adverts mentioning Microsoft Office is Germany at 15.72%.

• Across the 15 countries, the fastest growing digital skill is search engine marketing, which grew by 255% in 2023. This is followed by Microsoft 365 (195% growth), and digital literacy (184%).

• Among the emerging skills across the 15 countries are a number that we’ve heard so much about in the last year or so, such as Metaverse (7,137%) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (6,477%).

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @ The Lightcast Digital Skills Outlook 2024 | Lightcast