Research by Gallup, commissioned by Amazon Web Services, suggests digital skills training delivers tremendous economic benefits for Australia's national economy and its works.
The AWS Gallup Australia Digital Skills Study 2023 found that while while only a small share, nine per cent, of workers use advanced digital skills, they add A$41 billion annually to Australia's gross domestic product.
This is due to their higher earnings and productivity.
Factoring in basic and intermediate skills, the GDP lift is estimated by Gallup to be A$68 billion.
On average, workers with advanced digital skills earn almost a quarter more than peers with similar education and experience, but who do not use any digital skills at their jobs.
Gallup also found what it said is a strong correlation between digital skills and employee happiness.
Almost two-thirds of Australian workers with advanced digital skills express high job satisfaction, Gallup found.
Such workers are also much more employable than those who lack digital skills, and enjoy increased opportunities for promotion.
Gallup surveyed 2164 working adults and 775 employers, with 30,000 employees taking part worldwide.
Basic digital skills is defined as for example using email, office productivity software and social media.
Intermediate digital skills adds drag-and-drop website design, troubleshooting applications, data analysis among other things.
In the advanced digital skills category, Gallup listed being able to do cloud architecture or maintenance, software or application development, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
In August last year, the Australian government laid out its pathway to future tech jobs in the country.
The minister of industry and science, Ed Husic, called for action five key areas to meet the government's target of an additional 650,000 tech workers by 2030.
They include:
- Increasing understanding and awareness of job opportunities
- Fixing gaps in education and training products and pathways
- Improving the diversity of the tech workforce
- Targeting skilled migration to areas of high need and greatest shortages
- Improving industry-level supply and demand analysis
Husic said the government will create an environment for success by building a national training system, backing final year student and graduate entrepreneurs, as well as buying and making things in Australia.
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