Digital Problem-Solving Skills of the Workforce and Career Entrants – Bavaria by National and International Comparison

Tasks

The study was conducted within a framework agreement with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Munich and Upper Bavaria to provide objective, scientifically-based economic advisory work.

This study aims to thoroughly evaluate the digital skills of employees, especially among young professionals, in a national and international comparison, and to find out who, in terms of these skills, starts into an increasingly digital working environment under good or bad preconditions. The analysis employs data from PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) that includes the measured digital skills of adults in a number of OECD countries.

Data and other sources

PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) Data of OECD 

Results

The results show that Bavaria and Germany perform well by international comparison. Compared to other countries participating in PIAAC, the digital skills of the German workforce are similar to the international average; with Bavaria performing better than other German federal states. Restricting the sample to young professionals gives similar results. However, further analyses reveal strong heterogeneities in digital skills in terms of education and socio-economic background characteristics. Furthermore, digital skills are strongly correlated with occupations and sectors. In some occupations (such as service technicians, craftsmen, and office workers), only the top 25% of young professionals in Germany are digitally skilled to a similar extent as the average performers in top performing countries. Based on these differences and results, two main policy implications are derived: the education system should strengthen the development of digital skills and foster life-long learning, as well as training-on-the job.

Publication (in German)

Heimisch, Alexandra and Franziska Hampf, Digitale Problemlösekompetenzen der Erwerbsbevölkerung und von Berufseinsteigern – Bayern im nationalen und internationalen Vergleich, Impulse für die Wirtschaftspolitik, IHK für München und Oberbayern, München, 2018, 01–44 | PDF Download