New Courses Increase Job Seekers’ Employability with Digital Skills

Foundational digital skills within the workplace are digital skills that are needed to perform a job but that are not the job’s main function—the ability to use email to communicate important information, for example.

The demand for foundational digital skills is growing, even in jobs not traditionally associated with these skills. In fact, according to the Urban Institute, “Research shows, however, that many workers and job seekers lack foundational digital skills. Closing this gap requires digital training, especially for adult learners and workers displaced from occupations. Training and education providers need to develop programs that teach job seekers and workers foundational digital literacy.”

Our new Employability in a Digital World courses, launched this spring with the support of Pitney Bowes, give adults a working knowledge of the digital tools employers have come to expect.

The courses are free and include lessons, videos, and downloads that teach students how to use some of the most common online tools, platforms, and programs that they will encounter in today’s jobs and working environments, such as Google Drive, Zoom, and Microsoft Outlook and Excel.

The courses also walk job seekers through the process of finding, applying, and interviewing for a job using online and virtual platforms and tools.

With the foundational digital skills gained through these courses, adults are better positioned to earn family-sustaining wages and achieve upward economic mobility.