Page 34 - Graduate Recruitment Handbook 2024

Examples of Digital Skills streamline working processes, meaning less time is
The digital skills you need will depend on the type spent on repetitive tasks and staff are freed up to
of career you’re pursuing, however there are some focus their efforts on higher value work that helps
essential skills that are increasingly required in almost both you and your employees to meet objectives.
every job. These are skills that everyone should aim
to develop. Overall, the improvement in efficiency produced by
digital technology creates space for businesses to be
Essential Digital Skills: more collaborative and innovative. This in turn builds
• Email and instant messaging an exciting and productive work environment to be
• Word processing a part of, leading to improved staff retention and
• Social media for business acquisition.
• Web-based research and problem solving
• Data entry and handling Given these numerous benefits, it’s no wonder
• Behaving safely and legally online businesses expect the vast majority of their workforce
to have the digital skills needed to embrace the use
Additionally, developing more advanced digital of new technology.
skills may give you an advantage in specific technical
careers such as marketing, design, development, and The Benefit of Digital Skills for Employees
data science. With 85 million jobs expected to be Whilst digital skills are essential to employers, they
displaced and another 97 million created by 2025, of also have huge benefits for workers too. Having the
which many will be technological roles, the demand key digital skills needed to help drive a business
from employers for these more advanced digital forward can be incredibly empowering, and helps
skills will continue to increase. employees feel more confident and secure in their
roles.
Advanced Digital Skills:
• User experience design Nowadays, jobs traditionally carried out by people
• Coding are increasingly being replaced by automation
• Programming, web, and app development software, however research shows that having the
• SEO, SEM, and content creation right digital skills can help workers reduce the risk of
• Data analysis their role becoming automated by 59%.

Why are Digital Skills Important for Work? Furthermore, demonstrating a variety of digital skills
often results in a higher salary, with roles requiring
In today’s world, technology plays an increasingly digital skills paying on average 29% more than
important role in the economy and society as roles that do not. Therefore, developing digital skills
a whole. Businesses need to stay on top of the for the workplace not only aids employability, job
changing digital landscape in order to remain security and career progression, but often generates
competitive, so there’s a huge demand for skills a financial boost too.
that didn’t even exist a few years ago. Therefore
individuals need to continuously upskill themselves The Benefit of Digital Skills for Students
to remain employable. For individuals who are looking to enter the job
market, digital skills may be the key to standing out
amongst a multitude of possible candidates. With
The Benefit of Digital Skills for Employers
Having a workforce with a variety of digital skills has the vast majority of job vacancies requiring digital
numerous benefits for your business. Being able to skills, investing in learning a range of these skills is
embrace new technology in the workplace helps to one of the best ways to increase your chances of

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34 2024/2025 Graduate Recruitment Handbook
2024/2025 Graduate Recruitment Handbook