In a world where competitiveness is made more and more crucial for young people to jump into the labour market, the value of training for upskilling is something we must focus on. This is why the European Year of Skills is supporting skills related events all over Europe and promoting training activities funded by the EU among young people. According to the European Commission, the number of young people who follow trainings on a regular basis is increasing. In 2019, the share of young people (aged 15-29) participating in education and training was at its highest level since 2005, with a rate of 74.7%. The digital skills needed in our era vary depending on the sector and the job. Generally, the most important digital skills are related to the use of computers, software, networks, and the internet. These include basic computer literacy, the ability to use word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software, as well as the ability to use the internet for research and communication. Additionally, more advanced digital skills such as coding, digital marketing, understanding of data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are becoming increasingly important in many industries.
Even though there has been an increase in the use of digital skills since the pandemic, Italy is still far from the top places in digital skills at European level, despite being among the most important economies. According to Salesforce’s Digital Skills Index, 86% of Italian workers claim not to have the digital skills companies are looking for today: a percentage that rises to 87% for the next five years. Again, according to Unioncamere – ANPAL, only in October 2022 the difficulty in finding STEM professionals exceeded 50%. In general, in Europe, there is the problem of ‘web vacancy’, a shortage of personnel with digital skills. As stated before, the pandemic brought an increase in the demand for digital skills and this can be seen as a major opportunity also for rural areas development, since most workers can do their job from these areas. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to invest not only in the development of digital knowledge but also in the digital transition, facilitating access to web services by those living in locations far from the big cities. And young people can benefit from this type of investment both as recipients, but above all as key players in the development of new forms of employment.
Rosa Messuti, KAM of the “GAL La Cittadella del Sapere Srl”
