Job in the digital age. A SLR on old and new knowledge, skills, and competencies.

Abstract

The thesis analyzes the meaning and function of the concepts of knowledge, skill and competence (KSC) to investigate their evolution towards a mix between creativity and digitalisation, highlighting the impact of digital transformation on the labour market requirements. The research is a systematic literature review (SLR) of existing theoretical and empirical resources about KSC from four principal perspectives: educational sciences, human resource management, institutional organizations and labour economics. Together with the identification of KSC’s specific meaning, the findings explain the new and central role of the learning outcomes in the actual and future workplace, giving voice to working population reskilling and upskilling. The results demonstrate that two emerging trends are shaping jobs and KSC of the future: the importance of human capital in terms of creativity and interactions between people, associated with the digitization and automation of work processes. These tendencies are evident especially in the birth of new digital and creative skills such as 21-st century skills, STEM and STEAM skills. The final purpose of the SLR is a comprehensive and clear representation of KSC meaning and value to have a shared knowledge between different industries, countries and cultures. The benefits go from forecasting labour market dynamics and potential gap between demand and supply; identifying human resources deficiencies and recovering them; and fruiting human creativity in a more digital economy and society.