Submit this form to download your
FREE REPORT
We will send you notifications of future Burning Glass Technologies research and content as they publish. You can change your preferences at any time.
Want to learn more about how Burning Glass can help you?
All Rights Reserved. Burning Glass ® 2017
The Digital Edge:
Middle-Skill Workers and Careers
Burning Glass Technologies has conducted a series of studies for Capital One on the digital skills employers demand from workers, and how to close the digital skills gap. We’ve found in the middle-skill job market, the world is increasingly divided between the jobs that demand digital skills and the ones that don’t—and the ones that don’t are falling behind.
Much of the debate over technology in the workforce has focused on sophisticated skills, such as writing code. But the more significant impact on the middle-skill job market is in the humbler world of digital literacy using everyday software: spreadsheets and word processing, programs for medical billing and running computerized drill presses. To a large extent, a job seeker without the ability to use this software won’t even get in the door.
More than 8 in 10 middle-skill jobs (82%) require digital skills, a 4% increase since 2014.
Digitally intensive middle-skill jobs pay more than non-digital middle-skill jobs: Overall, middle-skill jobs that demand digital skills average $20 per hour; those with advanced digital skills such as IT networking or CRM software can command salaries at or above $28/hour, which places them in the top quartile of all earners.
Digital skills provide a career pathway into middle- and high-skill jobs.
Digital middle-skill jobs represent roughly 38% of overall job postings – but some markets afford more opportunity than others. In examining the top 10 metropolitan areas, we found some regions have higher proportions of these jobs than others, ranging from 33% in San Francisco and Washington D.C. to 42% in Houston.
Non-digitally intensive middle-skill opportunities are mostly restricted to transportation, construction, and installation/repair jobs. Put another way, digital skills and digital literacy have become a minimum standard for middle-skill jobs in most other sectors.