Digital literacy is prerequisite & employers should add basic digital literacy to job requirements because workers with advanced digital skills are much more in demand.
To compete in the modern global trends of foreign and regional markets, the private sector should adopt more flexible approaches to developing talent for digital jobs, while workers must embrace lifelong learning of digital skills.
Speaking to a delegation of IT professionals led by Mian Faiz Bukhsh, Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry‘s United Business Group Chairman Shahzad Ali Malik Sitar-I-Imtiaz said here Sunday that Asia and the Pacific, as one of the world’s fastest-growing regions, have seen rapid digitization in recent years. While the trend was evident prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic catalysed a dramatic acceleration in the demand talent for digital skills and jobs.
He stated that by the end of this year, nearly 65% of the GDP in the Asia Pacific region will be digitized. He stated that this transformation will necessitate a workforce with basic, intermediate, and advanced digital skills across industries, and that Pakistan must equip its businesses and workforce with digital literacy to meet the emerging demands of new global marketing patterns.
While not everyone needs to be a data scientist, he claims that basic digital literacy is required for nearly all job profiles across industries and regions. According to Shahzad Ali Malin, digital literacy is a prerequisite, and employers should add basic digital literacy to job requirements because workers with intermediate or advanced digital skills are much more in demand than those with only basic digital skills.
Employers, he says, can benefit from more flexible approaches to hiring programming talent, such as identifying talent skilled through online, micro, and modular learning rather than more traditional degree programmes.
Speaking on the occasion about the gender gap, delegation leader Mian Faiz Bukhsh stated that while males dominate the renewable energy industries, e-learning has a better gender balance. He claims that e-learning has lower entry barriers in terms of skills, work flexibility, and social acceptance, indicating progress toward gender parity.
However, he believes that developing policies that encourage women’s participation in growing industries such as renewable energy is critical. According to him, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant shift in how people work around the world. Digital transformation is accelerating across Asia and the Pacific economies, creating unprecedented demand for digital jobs and skills, he added.
With digitization pervading all industries, he believes that every worker must be equipped with at least basic digital skills in order to remain relevant in the post-pandemic labour market. According to Mian Faiz Bukhsh, employees must cultivate a growth mindset and embrace lifelong learning of digital skills. He concluded that this is how we will continue to create economic opportunities for every member of the global workforce.