Maidstone firm call for digital skills at school

Reflect Digital says the next generation should be ready to deal with the rise of AI.  Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.

Transcript

00:00English, Algebra, Science. These are what Kent's kids are studying now, term time is

00:05in full swing. But according to one recent report, what may be missing from the curriculum

00:11are the skills needed to land a job in a tech-friendly future, according to one Maidstone-based digital

00:18marketing company.

00:19Young people do have knowledge around how to use the internet and they know how to use

00:24their mobile phone devices and they're probably more literate than some of us when it comes

00:29to using technology. But what they don't know is about the careers that sit behind it. They

00:34know kind of how to use it on the front end for their personal and their social life,

00:38but they don't necessarily know what that looks like when actually we start to talk

00:42about what a lifetime career might look like and where they might be going and how they

00:46can use those skills.

00:48Nearly 70% of 18 to 25 year olds say they were never taught about digital careers and

00:57that's a significant problem when more than 80% of jobs here in the UK require some sort

01:03of digital skill.

01:05Sophie Clark was inspired to embark on a digital career back in 2018. Now she wants to see

01:12more pathways to digital industries for young women like herself. Despite the Institute

01:19for Public Policy Research worrying that 8 million jobs could be on the line as AI uproots

01:26the economy.

01:27What's the point of kind of teaching people about digital jobs if AI is around the corner

01:33as potentially going to threaten the stability of the industry?

01:35AI isn't going to steal your job, but the people that use AI will. So it's being able

01:41to go with AI and use it in the ways that benefit your job and that will improve efficiencies

01:48and make businesses more profitable. So I think in terms of the jobs that say are at

01:54the business now, they're not going to go for us, but it will be new jobs that are created.

02:00For example, we've got a new innovations and AI lead, like he is solely focusing on AI

02:05and how he can improve efficiencies. So it's opening up new careers, but also, yeah, just

02:11making sure you're educating yourself on AI and how you can use it to become more efficient.

02:16As digital industries are set to become a bigger segment of the job market over the

02:21next decade, whether the next generation is ready will be a question for everyone in Kent

02:28and beyond. Oliver, Leader of the Sacks for KMTV in Maidstone.