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AWS Global Digital Skills Study | The economic benefits of a tech-savvy workforce AWS Global Digital Skills Study | The economic benefits of a tech-savvy workforce Executive Summary The world is increasingly going digital — from the way we work to the way we live. Information technology is driving significant transformation across the world at the individual, organizational and macroeconomic levels. To study these dynamics in a global context, Gallup collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to conduct one of the largest international surveys on digital skills to date. 1 Gallup surveyed more than 30,000 workers with access to the internet across 19 countries — which account for 67% of global GDP — and surveyed more than 9,000 employers. Among the 19 countries included were the United States, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, India, Indonesia and Brazil. 2 Furthermore, Gallup analyzed data on all advertised job vacancies across 33 countries — totaling more than 100 million openings — from June 2021 to May 2022 to further assess demand for digital skills and how much employers are willing to pay for them. The results consistently show that digital skills provide immense economic value to businesses and workers worldwide, raising gross domestic product (GDP), revenue growth, innovation, wages, job security and job satisfaction for businesses that integrate these technologies and the workers who acquire the needed skill sets. While both workers and organizations cite strong interest in digital skills training, companies around the world are struggling to fill vacant jobs that require these skills. Gallup also found a number of practical obstacles to hiring digital workers, including a notable disconnect between how much employers say they value non-degree credentials, such as industry certifications, and their actions when evaluating candidate resumes. Specifically, the study found a self-imposed skills gap in technology job requirements, wherein employers are slightly more likely to prefer or require a bachelor's degree than they are to prefer or require digital skills certifications, despite the fact that managers give greater hiring preference to candidates with digital certifications than they do to candidates with a non-computer science bachelor's degree. 1 The largest comparable survey Gallup found is the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, an international collaboration between government agencies led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). That survey, among other things, tests problem-solving in a technologically rich environment and collects data on the use of computers and computer skills at work. The sample size is approximately 5,000 per country across 40 countries, administered in various years. 2 For a full explanation of the methods used to administer the survey and analyze its data, please refer to the Methodology section. Copyright © 2022 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. AWS_dsrprt_092922_kr 1 Copyright © 2022 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. 1