Publication
Digital Transformation: Assessing the Impact of Digitalisation on Ireland’s Workforce
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
‘Digital Transformation: Assessing the Impact of Digitalisation on Ireland’s Workforce’ is a new study from the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs on the impacts of the adoption of digital technologies over the years 2018 to 2023. This study provides insights on the impacts that the adoption of digital technologies will have on sectors, occupations and regions in Ireland and highlights the opportunities and challenges that this will present.
Digitalisation is a major driver of productivity growth through the improvement of process efficiency and the quality of products and services. The growing adoption of technologies is disrupting traditional roles and transforming the world of work, with one in three jobs in Ireland at high risk of being affected by digitalisation. It has been identified that those most at risk of displacement by digital technologies are those with lower levels of education.
The report finds that all sectors (excluding financial services and real estate) will be employing more people in 2023 than they do currently. It also predicts that employment in every occupational group will experience positive year-on-year change to 2023. Despite this, the adoption of digital technologies will lead to a slowdown in employment growth. This will result in 46,000 fewer jobs being created than would have been created without digitalisation.
The report finds that the existing national skills architecture is well-positioned to respond to the impacts of increased digitalisation. There are already a number of programmes in operation which are targeted at aiding the upskilling and reskilling of employees, such as the EXPLORE programme, Springboard+, Skillnet Ireland programmes and the Skills to Advance initiative. The report cautions that, whilst the skills architecture is functioning well in our current economic climate, it is important to ensure that the systems in place can deal with the ongoing future challenges of digitalization.
