Cedefop’s report, „Setting Europe on course for a human digital transition“, is based on the second European Skills and Jobs Survey (ESJS2), conducted in mid-2021. The survey gathered data from over 46,000 adult workers across 29 European countries (the 27 EU Member States plus Norway and Iceland). Its main goal is to support vocational education and training, skills, and digital policy-making in the EU. The report emphasises that the digital transition should be seen primarily as a skills transition, rather than an unstoppable trend that leads to unemployment. While some occupations will be lost and certain tasks taken over by technology, new jobs and responsibilities will also emerge, requiring new sets of skills.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated digitalisation in the European workplace, with nearly half of adult workers encountering new digital technologies between 2020 and 2021. Companies that adopted these tools, especially those expanding their workforce, managed the crisis more effectively. The report reveals that digitalisation is altering the nature of work, with many employees learning new tools, changing task compositions, and improving efficiency. However, access to digital skills training was uneven. Workers with temporary contracts or mismatched qualifications were less likely to receive training. Importantly, the report points out that digitalisation’s impact depends on managerial choices, which can either enrich or simplify jobs. It also notes that while skill mismatches like overqualification remain a challenge, digitalisation can help mitigate some of their negative effects, particularly on wages.
In conclusion, Cedefop’s report uses ESJS2 data to offer a nuanced picture of how digitalisation is reshaping jobs and skills in Europe. It highlights the acceleration of this process due to the pandemic, the evolving nature of job tasks and skill demands, and the effects on skills mismatches and job quality, while highlighting that most of the negative consequences are avoidable with targeted up and re-skilling.