Digital skills in everyday working life

How can digital skills be strengthened in everyday working life, and what role does AI play in everyday work and the learning culture in companies? These questions are at the heart of this year's continuing education study by the Bitkom Academy. For four years now, one of these studies has been published annually in cooperation with HRpepper, which deals with current trends in the field of continuing education and surveys the opinions of working people in Germany.

For this year's edition, around 1,000 employees with and without management positions were surveyed online. In addition to the main topic of AI, the study also focused on the importance of continuing education in everyday working life: 87% of those surveyed believe that time for continuing education plays an important role. However, only 62% feel well informed about the continuing education opportunities offered by their employer. The survey also shows that the content learned in such courses is indeed relevant: 86% feel that they can effectively apply what they have learned in their everyday work.

Continuing education is particularly welcome in the digital sector: 87% consider digital skills to be particularly important, and 74% emphasize the relevance of digital technologies and applications such as AI. Forty-four percent of respondents are interested in continuing education on the topic of AI, but have not yet attended any courses. The respondents are particularly interested in the possible uses and application examples of AI. This is consistent with the fact that 73% believe that AI will play an increasingly important role in their everyday work.

The study also focuses on possible formats for continuing education: e-learning and webinars with and without interaction are particularly popular here. However, there is no preference for AI: 60% believe that AI training will not replace proven learning formats – and as many as 75% prefer a real person as a trainer to AI training.

We were also interested in the following topics:

• Labor law: According to a study by the WSI, one in five attempts to establish a works council is obstructed by the employer. The Hans Böckler Foundation explains which companies this happens particularly often in and why legal protection for employees is not strong enough in this area.

• Job centers: Managers in job centers would like to see higher allocations for administrative costs, especially for personnel and employment promotion. This was the result of a survey conducted by the IAB. The IAB explains online what the managers surveyed are satisfied with and how state funding of job centers works.

• Demographic development: Despite immigration, Germany is increasingly lacking workers. A new study summarized by Der Spiegel (€) shows where this shortage will be particularly acute by 2040 and which federal states are growing in the meantime.

• Skills for tomorrow: In a world characterized by transformation and complexity, there is increasing talk of future skills – skills that employees will need in the working world of tomorrow. The new Jobmonitor study by the Bertelsmann Foundation reveals which skills companies are already looking for today.

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