DIGITAL SKILL LEVELS LAGGING LABOR MARKET REQUIREMENTS

87 standards for digital skills and competencies of key positions for enterprises in 16 sectors of the economy were developed by an expert team within the framework of the project "Ready for digital transformation", implemented by the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA), in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MLSP) and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB). The project was financed with funds from the Operational Program "Development of Human Resources" 2014-2020 and aims to increase the specific digital skills of the workforce in 16 economic activities/sub-activities under the 2008 CID.

The development of the competence profiles was preceded by analyzes of digital skills needs in the 16 sectors involved in the project. The analyzes showed that only 19% of employees meet the required level of digital competence for the key position they hold.

The competency profiles describe a total of 762 digital competencies, 2994 units of knowledge, 2998 units of skills, 2992 behaviors and 2131 examples of use. The general digital competences included in the profiles are 385, and the specific ones are 377. Among the general digital competences, the largest share (29.8%) is literacy related to information and data, followed by the competences related to communication and collaboration (25.7%). safety (20.2%), problem solving (22.9%) and digital content creation (11.4%). The most specific competencies relate to information and data literacy (35.5%), followed by digital content creation (27.3%), problem solving (21.5%), communication and collaboration (11.7%) and safety (4%).

Research shows that 53% of employers are looking for a workforce with an advanced level of basic digital competencies, and 14% require a highly specialized level. 31% would accept workers with an intermediate level of basic digital competencies, and only 2% - with a basic level. In terms of specific digital competencies, 59% of employers require an advanced level, 16% - a highly specialized level, 20% an intermediate level, and 5% a basic level.

In other words, nearly 70% of the proficiency levels required in the profiles are for the "advanced" and "highly specialized" level of digital competence. This is an indicator of the changing nature of work, the changing specificity of the tasks performed at the workplace and the dynamically growing requirements for digital skills in the context of the transition to digitalized workplaces.

"Unfortunately, there is not a sufficiently developed practice in enterprises to assess the level of current digital skills of staff. More attention is paid to technology, but not to people. In this context, the developed assessment tools are very useful," says Tomcho Tomov, head of the National Competence Assessment Center at BIA, which has a major role in the development of the competence profiles.

According to the experts involved in the BIA project, the requirements for digital competence will continue to grow. The level of digital skills is lagging behind the pace, the dynamics in increasing the demands of the labor market. Mass training in basic digital competences will somewhat improve the situation, but will not meet the real needs of enterprises and employed persons.