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To promote digital transformation, equal emphasis needs to be placed on digital skills development as to infrastructure development. Integral to investment in digital skills development is the subsequent management and evaluation of digital training programmes. This paper assesses mechanisms to ensure digital training programmes are adequately managed using a standardized data collection framework to measure an internationally accepted digital literacy index. Such an index requires an agile definition of digital literacy, responsive to the fluid nature of the digital economy. The paper also explores the extent to which a G20 advisory body may inform a nationally representative data collection strategy within the context of a data collection process that is cognizant of the evolving demands of businesses and users alike.

Technology use and adoption by firms and workers is a critical component of the process of technological change. Relying on data from the Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey, this study assesses the causal effects of education on technology use and adoption by using instrumental variables for schooling derived from Canadian compulsory school attendance laws. The authors find that education increases the probability of using computers on the job, and that employees with more education spend more time using computers and have longer work experiences with computers than those with less education. Education does not, however, influence the use of computer-controlled and computer-assisted devices or other technological devices such as cash registers and sales terminals. These findings are consistent with the view that formal education increases the use of technologies that require or enable workers to carry out higher-order tasks, but not those involving routine workplace tasks.

Over the last decade two key changes affecting employability, labour market operation and policy delivery are austerity and the expansion of the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), especially web-based technologies. Increasingly, given pressures for cost savings and developments in ICT, employers' recruitment and selection strategies are at least partly webbased, careers guidance and public employment services are moving towards ‘digital by default' delivery and job seekers are expected to manage their job search activity and benefit claims electronically. So, what are the implications of austerity and technological change for employability? This article presents a critical review of the literature on ICT and its relation to, and implications for, employability in a context of austerity. A new framework for employability is presented and those aspects of employability where ICT plays a key role are highlighted. It is concluded that in the context of austerity and technological change more is demanded of individual job seekers/workers, as they are expected to take greater responsibility for their marketability in the labour market. This means that individuals' attributes and skills are of enhanced importance in conceptualisations of employability. ICT skills have a key role to play in employability, but not at the expense of more conventional social skills which remain very important alongside digital literacy.

This paper assesses the importance of digitalization in Germany and other developed countries, with particular attention on the potential or actual impacts this process may have on the labor market. Referring to available empirical evidence, we document the transformation of occupations and forms of employment as well as the role of the platform economy, including the phenomenon of solo self-employment. We then derive current and future challenges for social protection and develop proposals to adapt social insurance systems to these new challenges.

There are clear signs that digitalization attempts such as Industry 4.0 will become more apparent in workplaces. This development requires reflections and considerations so we do not create more problems than we solve. In our paper, we have raised several questions related to the Industry 4.0 that need answers: Is Industry 4.0 a discourse, an organizational model, or just technology? Does the requirement for flexibility call for a new labour market? How will Industry 4.0 affect competence and skill requirements? Will Industry 4.0 encourage a new gender order? Will Industry 4.0 take over dangerous routine work or will old work environmental problems appear in new contexts and for other groups of workers? Can we rely on robots as work mates or will they spy on us and report to management? Based on our analysis, we addressed four knowledge gaps that need more research in relation to the digitalization of work: The relationship between new technology, working conditions, qualifications, identity, and gender; the future of the workers' collective; crowdsourcing in an industrial context; and human-machine interaction with a focus on integrity issues.

Digital technologies will both create new jobs and replace existing ones. To cope with increasing labor market dynamics in the digital age, workers will have to become more mobile across jobs, occupations, and industries. The relative importance of their job-specific skills will decrease while that of their general skills applicable to various occupations will increase. The G20 should establish national adult training programs that focus on improving workers' general skills, specifically their theoretical, non-cognitive, and digital skills. These general skills will enable workers to work with technology instead of competing with it, thereby increasing their job mobility and employability.

As the current recession ends, many workers will not be returning to the jobs they once held--those jobs are gone. InThe New Division of Labor, Frank Levy and Richard Murnane show how computers are changing the employment landscape and how the right kinds of education can ease the transition to the new job market. The book tells stories of people at work--a high-end financial advisor, a customer service representative, a pair of successful chefs, a cardiologist, an automotive mechanic, the author Victor Hugo, floor traders in a London financial exchange. The authors merge these stories with insights from cognitive science, computer science, and economics to show how computers are enhancing productivity in many jobs even as they eliminate other jobs--both directly and by sending work offshore. At greatest risk are jobs that can be expressed in programmable rules--blue collar, clerical, and similar work that requires moderate skills and used to pay middle-class wages. The loss of these jobs leaves a growing division between those who can and cannot earn a good living in the computerized economy. Left unchecked, the division threatens the nation's democratic institutions. The nation's challenge is to recognize this division and to prepare the population for the high-wage/high-skilled jobs that are rapidly growing in number--jobs involving extensive problem solving and interpersonal communication. Using detailed examples--a second grade classroom, an IBM managerial training program, Cisco Networking Academies--the authors describe how these skills can be taught and how our adjustment to the computerized workplace can begin in earnest.

This paper looks at the effect of technological and organisational changes on the probability for workers in the second part of their careers of transmitting their knowledge to other colleagues in their employing firm. We use matched employer-employee data to link changes occurred at the firm level with knowledge transmission behaviours measured at the individual-level. To control for selection bias based on differences in observable characteristics between workers employed in changing work environments and those employed in non-changing ones, we apply propensity score matching techniques. We find that ICT and management changes reduce significantly the probability for workers over 45 of transmitting their knowledge to their colleagues. Then, we analyse the role of training in mitigating this negative impact. To address issues of self-selection into training, we use propensity score matching methods and a proxy for unobservable productivity. We show that participation in a training program regarding ICT tools may help older workers restore their role of knowledge transmitters.

The current study examined whether monetary incentives could increase engagement and achievement in a job‐skills training program for unemployed, homeless, alcohol‐dependent adults. Participants (n = 124) were randomized to a no‐reinforcement group (n = 39), during which access to the training program was provided but no incentiveswere given; a training reinforcement group (n = 42), during which incentives were contingent on attendance and performance; or an abstinence and training reinforcement group (n = 43), during which incentives werecontingent on attendance and performance, but access was granted only if participants demonstrated abstinence from alcohol. abstinence and training reinforcement and training reinforcement participants advanced further in training and attended more hours than no‐reinforcement participants. Monetary incentives were effective in promoting engagement and achievement in a job‐skills training program for individuals who often do not take advantage of training programs.