Analysis · Education
The Biggest Digital Skills Gap Was in Working Together
By AWEI · AI-compiled · Published · Analysis prepared · 1 source · doi.org
Digital communication and collaboration ranked lowest in employers’ ratings of immediate importance, yet showed the largest reported skills gap. That contrast anchors a 2024 study by Poh Kiong Tee and colleagues: a skill need not top an employer’s wish list to reveal the greatest perceived shortfall.
The researchers analysed 376 usable responses from companies registered with the Malaysian Productivity Corporation in Klang Valley, Johor and Penang. Their online survey asked employers about graduate employees with less than two years of work experience. Nineteen items covered five areas, including information literacy, content creation, safety and problem-solving.
Employers rated both the importance of skills and graduates’ competence on five-point scales. For communication and collaboration, average importance was 3.640, while perceived competence was 2.713. The authors reported the largest gap in this category, followed by problem-solving. Paired statistical tests found differences between importance and competence ratings in all five areas.
The measurement matters. These were employer judgments, not independent demonstrations of what graduates could do. Importance and competence also describe different things, even when both receive scores from one to five. Subtracting them gives an indicator of perceived mismatch, rather than a direct measure of missing ability or lost productivity.
Employers also anticipated greater importance for every skill category over the following five years. Those responses were expectations collected in one survey, not observed changes over time. The regional sample and possible response biases limit generalisation. The study did not track hiring outcomes or establish that improving these skills causes better employment prospects.
For evaluating a course’s career promises, the findings suggest a concrete question: how does it assess digital collaboration and problem-solving? Employer perceptions can help identify abilities worth examining. Proof that a course develops those abilities, or improves graduates’ employment outcomes, requires additional evidence.
Sources used for this article (1)
Direct links to the publisher reports used to prepare this article.
- Source 1
- Demand for digital skills, skill gaps and graduate employability: Evidence from employers in Malaysia Poh Kiong Tee, Ling Chai Wong, Morakinyo Dada …
