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Almost a quarter of workers in the UK, equating to 12.6 million people, do not have at least one of the five digital skills deemed crucial by digital skills charity Go ON UK.

The recently released Basic Digital Skills UK report, mentions managing information, communicating, transacting, problem solving and creating basic digital content as the necessary skills to have.

The report also highlights some notable regional discrepancies. London was found to have the highest levels of people with all the listed skills (84 per cent) but in Wales only 62 percent of people could say the same.

Older people fared especially poorly, with basic digital skills starting to decline in the 45 to 54 age bracket. Less than half of those surveyed in the 65-plus age bracket could claim to have all of the skills listed by the survey.

Being in full time employment was more likely to produce a person with all the necessary skills. 89 percent of those in full time work had all five digital skills, compared to 72 percent of unemployed people and 47 percent of retirees.

Naturally, it was students who were found to have the highest levels of digital skills, with 93 percent possessing all of the five skills.

 

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Robert joined the HRreview editorial team in October 2015. After graduating from the University of Salford in 2009 with a BA in Politics, Robert has spent several years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past he has been part of editorial teams at Flux Magazine, Mondo*Arc Magazine and The Marine Professional.