Each additional point in the Digital Skills Index is associated with a 5.9% higher chance of being employed, once factors like age and education are taken into account. This finding comes from the III Biennial Report: Indicators of Digital Skills and Employability, presented at the College of Journalists of Catalonia. The study cautions that this statistical relationship does not prove that digital skills alone cause employment: work also enables the acquisition of those skills.
The report was presented by Rafael Merino, the study’s scientific director and coordinator of the Grup de Recerca Educació i Treball (GRET) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and Hannah Valério, a social researcher with IMANcorp FOUNDATION, responsible for coordinating and developing the project. Both entities drive the Observatorio de Competencias Digitales y Empleo, which produces the study.
The largest gap corresponds to educational level
The results show differences in the labor situation: 65.7% of people with high digital skills are employed, versus 14.7% of those who lack them. The widest gap aligns with education level. 79.7% of people with higher education have high skills, compared with 36% of those with a lower educational level.
For professor Rafael Merino, the report reflects “once again that the most worrisome gap is among young people who drop out after completing mandatory schooling. Specific actions to acquire digital skills for this group would be necessary to improve their chances of entering the job market.”
Age, too, does not show a linear relationship with digital preparedness. 74.2% of people aged 16 to 25 have high skills, below the 80.8% in the 26–35 bracket and the 80.4% in the 36–45 bracket. The study identifies the need to strengthen the search for reliable information and its verification, especially among young people, and to support those who drop out after mandatory schooling.
In the labor market, access to and analysis of data leads the demand for computing skills. Companies are requesting digital competencies also in agriculture, industry, and construction, beyond tech-focused roles. However, their workplace use remains below everyday life: in Spain, computer use at work is 70.4%, compared with the OECD average of 80.1%. In daily life, the use of digital devices reaches 96.8%, above the organization’s 95.3% average.
For Hannah Valério, “being young does not guarantee digital competence, and the deficit is mainly in information skills. In a content-saturated environment, it is essential to emphasize the importance for young people to search credible sources and verify what we passively receive through social networks.”
The roundtable calls for training and a technology use tied to work
In the subsequent roundtable, moderated by journalist Xavier Vilà, participants included José María Feliu, Director of People at IESE Business School; Patricia Villanova, Talent Manager of HR at SIMON; Daniel González, Executive Director of Wikimedia España; Belén Badia, Chief People & Culture Officer at PortAventura World; Enric Almuzara, Director of People at ENINTER; and Alejandro Magallón, Group General Manager of IMAN Group.
Among the roundtable’s conclusions there was unanimous concern that young people show lower digital preparation compared to other population groups with older ages. This perception led to a push for reinforcing critical thinking and training for those entering the job market and the way they access information.
There was also questioning of the association between older age and lower digital capability, and it was pointed out that senior professionals are currently making better use of artificial intelligence, a view expressed during the debate. Among the shared ideas, the panel highlighted that digital competence depends on how technology is used and applied to the needs of each position. The speakers agreed that familiarity with social networks does not guarantee competent use of digital tools in the workplace.
AI, the elephant in the room for companies
Although the report touches on AI only tangentially, it occupied a substantial portion of the conversation. Participants agreed that its adoption should respond to concrete objectives and the needs of each organization, rather than social pressure. They discussed applications to improve customer service and address multiculturalism, along with problems that can arise from improper use of AI that could create bottlenecks.
The proposal for ongoing training and public-private collaboration was put forward as a path to improve digital skills. The meeting closed with the forecast that the fourth edition of the report, due in two years, will include data that allow a more detailed analysis of AI use and its relationship to employment.
