Employers Must Share Responsibility for Closing the Digital Skills Gap

Leaders can’t assume that university will give graduates the digital skills they need

Higher education cannot be expected to deliver all the modern skills required for today’s workplaces, and employers must ensure they quickly understand what support new graduates will need, according to Questionmark, the leading online assessment provider.

New studies in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) reveal graduates are entering the workforce lacking many of the skills required in a modern job. According to one report, less than half (48%) of employers in the US believe recent graduates are “very well prepared” with the skills for collaboration. A parallel survey of students found two thirds (65%) had received no training to make team-based class projects more effective, enjoyable or productive.¹

In the UK, it is reported that over two thirds (69%) of employers face a digital skills gap but universities do not believe they alone can address this issue. Higher education leaders said they need help equipping young people with the digital skills increasingly sought after by employers.²

John Kleeman, Founder of Questionmark, said: “Higher institutions acknowledge that they are unable to equip students with all the modern skills they need for today’s workforce. Employers must recognize their role in addressing this issue. Now more than ever, they need to invest in training for recent graduates.

“To understand exactly what training and support new graduates need, employers must first determine which crucial skills are missing. Staff assessments in areas like digital literacy or data literacy give leaders a clear read of strengths and weaknesses and help determine training priorities. Further tests after training can prove whether it is working.”

To help employers build the right skills into their workforce, Questionmark has produced How to build a tech-enabled workforce, which details how organizations can establish both the need for training and build a culture hungry to learn new digital skills.

Ends

Notes to editors

About Questionmark

Questionmark unlocks performance through reliable and secure online assessments.

Questionmark provides a secure enterprise-grade assessment platform and professional services to leading organizations around the world, delivered with care and unequalled expertise. Its full-service online assessment tool and professional services help customers to improve their performance and meet their compliance requirements. Questionmark enables organizations to unlock their potential by delivering assessments which are valid, reliable, fair and defensible.

Questionmark offers secure powerful integration with other LMS, LRS and proctoring services making it easy to bring everything together in one place. Questionmark's cloud-based assessment management platform offers rapid deployment, scalability for high-volume test delivery, 24/7 support, and the peace-of-mind of secure, audited U.S., Australian and European-based data centers.

¹ https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-college-graduates-lack-preparation-in-the-skill-most-valued-by-employers-collaboration/

² https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RWP7An

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211130005211/en/