IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jecomi/v13y2025i7p196-d1696970.html

Impact of the Digital Skills on Employability: Cross-Sectional Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Biljana Đorđević

    (Faculty of Economics, University of Niš, Trg kralja Aleksandra Ujedinitelja 11, 18105 Niš, Serbia)

  • Sandra Milanović Zbiljić

    (Faculty of Economics, University of Niš, Trg kralja Aleksandra Ujedinitelja 11, 18105 Niš, Serbia)

  • Marija Radosavljević

    (Faculty of Economics, University of Niš, Trg kralja Aleksandra Ujedinitelja 11, 18105 Niš, Serbia)

Abstract

Digital skills are increasingly vital for enhancing employability, as they equip individuals to meet the evolving demands of the modern workforce. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of digital skills on employability, focusing on the influence of both basic and above-basic levels of information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, problem-solving, digital content creation, and safety skills, considered key components of digital competence. The research employs regression analysis using secondary data extracted from the Eurostat database. Based on data from 32 European countries, the findings indicate that three proxies for digital skills, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, and safety, significantly and positively influence employability. The contribution of this paper to the existing literature on digital skills and employability is twofold. First, by evaluating the influence of five categories of digital skills across different proficiency levels on employment rates, the study sheds light on which specific digital skills have the most substantial impact on employability in today’s labor market. Second, the findings provide a foundation for formulating recommendations aimed at enhancing the digital capabilities of the labor force.

Suggested Citation

  • Biljana Đorđević & Sandra Milanović Zbiljić & Marija Radosavljević, 2025. "Impact of the Digital Skills on Employability: Cross-Sectional Analysis," Economies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:13:y:2025:i:7:p:196-:d:1696970
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/7/196/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/7/196/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smaldone, Francesco & Ippolito, Adelaide & Lagger, Jelena & Pellicano, Marco, 2022. "Employability skills: Profiling data scientists in the digital labour market," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 671-684.
    2. Polyakova, V. & Streltsova, E. & Iudin, I. & Kuzina, L., 2024. "Irreversible effects? How the digitalization of daily practices has changed after the COVID-19 pandemic," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Choi, Yunwoo & Han, Sangpil & Lee, Changjun, 2024. "Exploring drivers of fintech adoption among elderly consumers," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Adel Saber Alanazi & Houcine Benlaria, 2023. "Bridging Higher Education Outcomes and Labour Market Needs: A Study of Jouf University Graduates in the Context of Vision 2030," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Dejsi Qorri & Enikő Pergéné Szabó & János Felföldi & Krisztián Kovács, 2024. "The Role of Human Resource Management in Agricultural Labor-Saving Technologies: An Integrative Review and Science Mapping," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Viorel Țarcă & Florin-Alexandru Luca & Elena Țarcă, 2024. "The Digital Edge: Skills That Matter in the European Labour Market after COVID-19," Economies, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-20, October.
    5. Ooi, Keng-Boon & Hew, Jun-Jie & Aw, Eugene Cheng-Xi & Cham, Tat-Huei & Lin, Chieh-Yu & Tan, Garry Wei-Han, 2025. "I am too young for this! A moderated-mediation model of metaverse commerce resistance," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Wilma Coetzee & Roelien Goede, 2024. "A Strategy for Designing a Research Project Using Critical Systems Heuristics: A Research Design Addressing Data Analytics Students’ Employability," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 37(6), pages 881-908, December.
    7. Giani Ionel Gradinaru & Vasile Dinu & Catalin-Laurentiu Rotaru & Andreea Toma, 2024. "The Development of Educational Competences for Romanian Students in the Context of the Evolution of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 26(65), pages 1-14, February.
    8. Nuriye Sancar & Nadire Cavus, 2025. "Smart Skills for Smart Cities: Developing and Validating an AI Soft Skills Scale in the Framework of the SDGs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-26, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:13:y:2025:i:7:p:196-:d:1696970. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.