Digitisation is transforming the nature of work, as well as many aspects of social and civic life. Digital skills are vital for individuals and national economies to prosper in a rapidly-changing world, benefiting from the opportunities of digital and remaining resilient to potential risks. More than 90 per cent of jobs in some categories now demand digital skills. Yet in 2016, just 56 per cent of Europeans had adequate digital skills for the world they live in, and 37 per cent of the workforce lacked adequate digital skills. In this project we examined the development and approach of Grow with Google, a project which operates through national programmes matched closely to the contexts and needs of individual countries, in six case study countries (Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Nigeria) in order to identify key themes and learning to support ongoing good practice in growing a digital skills ecosystem.

People seeking asylum are caught in a web of uncertainty. Employment provides income and has the potential to provide social connections; yet their uncertain circumstances make it hard to compete in a rapidly changing labour market. The Given the Chance for Asylum Seekers [GtCAS program, funded by a private philanthropist, worked intensively with jobseekers and with employers in Melbourne to identify suitable job opportunities and traineeships. This final report examines the employment trajectories of GtCAS participants, drawing on 19 interviews with program participants, program data between July 2015 and April 2018 and five interviews with employers.

The nature of work is changing. An extraordinary convergence of digital technologies is creating new roles, augmenting existing ones and rendering others redundant. While workers have proven resilient during previous industrial revolutions, many Australians will be affected by the automation of manual and routine tasks, and the resulting changes in jobs. Preparing Australia's workforce for a digital future cannot be outsourced or postponed. Virtually all organisations will soon want to consider taking advantage of new digital capabilities such as AI and robotics. However, the biggest inhibitor organisations face is developing the skill level within their workforce to handle these technologies. By understanding employees' skill levels, strengths and weaknesses, and taking advantage of policies and platforms that support on-the-job training, organisations can start to increase their capabilities now. In doing so, they will also help to future-proof their employees' careers to ensure they can thrive in tomorrow's economy. A nationwide effort is needed to persuade more people to embrace digital skills and become confident with technologies that help them achieve progress in their lives. Governments, businesses and academia all have crucial roles to play in this transition; no single entity can do it all., The directions in this report are substantially informed by the Skills Now roundtable convened by Microsoft in Sydney in late 2017. Chaired by Sara Caplan, Chief Executive Officer of PwC Skills for Australia, the event assembled some of the nation's most respected thought leaders in business, education, technology and start-ups.

The creative and cultural industries are one of the mainsprings of the British economy with levels of growth for 2016 more than twice the average for the economy as a whole. Skills are key to sustaining this growth, and addressing current gaps and shortages is a priority to ensure the sector continues to thrive. Despite its strong position in the economy, the creative and cultural sector is facing a number of skills challenges, which could threaten its continued growth and prosperity. Between May and December 2017, CFE Research, on behalf of Creative [and Cultural Skills and Arts Council England (ACE), undertook a large-scale survey of creative and cultural businesses to assess skills gaps (a lack of proficiency of the existing workforce) and shortages (a lack of suitable applicants with the required skills, qualifications and/or experience). Although leadership and management skills provided a particular focus, the prevalence of existing and likely future skills gaps and shortages across all occupations and sub-sectors was explored, along with the implications for the sustainability and growth of businesses and the sector as a whole.

Today, more than ever, the prosperity and competitiveness of cities and regions depends on their human capital. Those regions that are able to educate, train, attract, and retain individuals that meet the needs of the community's employers will prosper, while those that don't will quickly fall behind. In recent years, 'talent' has solidified its place at the top of employers' priority lists as they look to locate and expand their businesses. A region's workforce is its most powerful economic development asset. As the importance of human capital has increased, so has the rate of change throughout the labor market. Technological change and a globalized world mean that the right set of skills today for a given job will look very different than the right set of skills a few years from now for that same job. The responsibility over this dynamic - one that simultaneously holds the power to disrupt and the power to accelerate economic prosperity - does not fall squarely on a particular party's shoulders. All players in the labor market - business leaders, educators, workforce intermediaries, and workers themselves - bear collective responsibility for whether or not a region's workforce holds a region back or propels it forward., The people of the greater Birmingham region face a choice of how best to steward their most powerful economic development asset. In the years since the Great Recession there have been exciting developments throughout the region that have planted the seeds of future growth and shared prosperity. The completed Railroad Park in downtown Birmingham stands as a powerful metaphor of what could be: unity and rebirth from the foundation of the Magic City's industrial past. The Innovation Depot buzzes with ambitious startups and world class computer processing capability. The region's influential industries have begun to partner with Career and Technical Education programs, community colleges, and local universities in innovative ways around credentialing and training. Despite all the positive momentum, the region hasn't yet channeled its collective energy into a single, unifying agenda that serves the interests of all of its citizens. A nimble and well-trained workforce that fully meets the needs of all current and future businesses in the seven-county region could be the focus of such an agenda. Such a focus isn't just a business prerogative, it's a social priority as well. The prosperity of Birmingham's families and communities are inextricably tied to the health of the region's employers (and vice versa)., Accepting collective ownership of moving the region's labor market to a state of alignment will require change from every participant in the system. Employers will have to better communicate what it means to be successful on the job to workers and the institutions that train them. Educators will have to more fully embrace the challenge of understanding which ways the winds are blowing in the labor market their students will face. Cross-sector leaders of all stripes will need to ensure that adequate resources and energy are being allocated against the region's workforce goals. Achieving this talent roadmap is well within Birmingham's reach.

The Federation for Industry Sector Skills and Standards (FISSS) is the representative body of employer-led, sector skills bodies. These in turn represent the viewpoint of some 180,000 employers on the UK's skills needs. This briefing note presents key data on the big skills challenges facing the UK economy. Importantly it is organised by industry sector so that comparisons can be made. Taking a long-term view on skill shortages, the paper compiles data on the themes of automation, the ageing workforce, Brexit, staff turnover, pay growth, working from home (a proxy for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) resilience), and gender balance. The aim is to identify long-term and transformative trends that will shape the future of skills. The standout point from this exercise is that different sectors face different challenges.

It is becoming harder and harder to find talent with key skills, while redundancies and severance expenses are mounting. Investment in internal training can help tackle these issues, but companies often do not prioritise such initiatives owing to cost, time, the unclear return on investment, and the risk that employees will leave. United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) do not allow businesses to estimate the value that human capital investments have on the company or recoup any expected returns. If training can only be listed as a cost, businesses wishing to appease shareholders lack incentives to invest in the long term. Alternative reporting frameworks, which show the connection between intangible value investments – such as human capital – and profit, are gaining ground with companies and stakeholders. Yet these do not yet sway corporate decisions. Alternative accounting and investment models can help change how expenses for human capital investments are capitalised over time. Three models are discussed in this report to inform and inspire change, including considerations around implementation, with the recommendation that the Employability Account represents the greatest potential benefit. However, making a change to official accounting standards – which extends to rethinking related tax incentives – is a laborious affair, and is best driven by political and business action.

This report has been produced at the request of the Australian Government to support advancement of the 2017 G20 Roadmap for Digitalisation: Policies for a Digital Future, in particular its dimension on supporting the equitable participation of women in the digital economy. It aims to provide policy directions for consideration by all governments, including G20 economies' governments through identifying, discussing and analysing a range of drivers at the root of the digital gender divide. While G20 economies have already put in place a number of important actions aimed at narrowing the gender gap, more needs to be done in light of the many worrying signs of a widening digital gender divide and the compounded effect that its different components may have in the future. The report finds that hurdles to access, affordability, lack of education as well as inherent biases and socio-cultural norms curtail women and girls' ability to benefit from the opportunities offered by the digital transformation. In addition, girls' relatively lower educational enrolment in disciplines that would allow them to perform well in a digital world - such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as information and communication technologies - coupled with women's and girls' more limited use of digital tools could lead to widening gaps and greater inequality., This report presents the outcomes and findings of a multifaceted approach integrating complementary work, articulated around the following key areas of analysis: (1) the gender divide and digital technologies; (2) leapfrogging opportunities for reducing the gender gap, discussing some of the many opportunities that digital technologies offer for narrowing the digital gender divide; (3) equipping women and girls with the skills needed to thrive in the digital era; (4) jobs and skills in the digital transformation; (5) women and innovation; (6) learning from experience; and (7) the role of policy in bridging the digital gender divide.

The rate of criminal punishment in the United States has had far-reaching economic consequences, in large part because people with criminal records are marginalized within the labor market. Given these negative economic implications, federal, state and local officials have developed a host of policies to encourage employers to hire ex-offenders, with varying degrees of success. To inform policies and programs aimed at improving employment rates for ex-offenders, we examined employer preferences regarding policy options targeted to incentivize hiring individuals with one nonviolent felony conviction. In our experiments, we found employers were 69 per cent more likely to consider hiring an ex-offender if a hiring agency also provides a guaranteed replacement worker in the event the ex-offender was deemed unsuitable and 53 per cent more likely to hire an ex-offender who can provide a certificate of validated positive previous work performance history. Having consistent transportation provided by a hiring agency increased the likelihood of being considered for hire by 33 per cent. Employers also were found to be 30 per cent more likely to consider an ex-offender for hire if the government increases the tax credit from 25 per cent of the worker's wages (up to $2,500) to 40 per cent (up to $5,000) - double the current maximum amount allowed by the Work Opportunity Tax Credit - and 24 per cent more likely to hire an ex-offender if the government completed all tax-related paperwork.