UK facing “digital skills crisis”

12 million people in the UK do not have basic digital skills, with older people particularly ill-equipped for the digital age, according to research published by the charity Go ON UK.

The charity, which promotes online skills, found that 23% of the adult population are unable to perform simple online tasks such as using a search engine or sending an email.

There was a noticeable decline above the age of 45, with only 43% of people over 65 having the basic skills identified by the charity. By contrast, among 15–25-year-olds, the rate was 93%.

The survey also found that many small businesses and charities were also lacking digital skills.

Go ON UK CEO Rachel Neaman commented that: “The UK is experiencing a digital skills crisis. 12.6 million adults, 1.2 million small businesses, and over half of all charities lack the basic digital skills needed to succeed in today’s digital age. Digital competency is an essential skill for everyone and we believe that—without urgent action—the nation’s lack of basic digital skills will continue to hold back economic growth, productivity and social mobility.”

How can the skills gap among older people be addressed in countries with aging populations like the UK? Matteo Picchio has written for IZA World of Labor about how training programs can improve the employability of older workers. He writes that: “Policies aimed at retaining older workers need to define training programs to meet the specific learning needs of older workers. Shown to be effective are learning activities that are self-paced, job-related, and work-integrated.”

Read more on this story at BBC News. The Go ON UK report can be found here.

Related articles:
Is training effective for older workers? by Matteo Picchio
Innovation and employment by Marco Vivarelli
The importance of informal learning at work by Andries De Grip

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