Digitalization and Labor Market—A Perspective within the Framework of Pandemic Crisis

Abstract

The current pandemic crisis, which is far from being over, has led to a significant paradigm shift in economics. In a turbulent environment in which the labor market has encountered a long series of changes generated by the processes of automation, robotization and digitalization, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that a workforce with digital skills can quickly adjust to new circumstances. Since novel issues, such as restrictions on internal movement and distorted supply chains, put major stress on the labor market, it seems that there is an urgent need for reshaping economies and following up-to-date technological trends. Moreover, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant number of scholars and policymakers expressed their concerns about the volatility of employment and the weak ability of labor to adapt to new types of jobs. Within this framework, our paper aims to analyze the plausible impacts of digital efficiency on the future development of the labor market. Based upon the assumption that employment is facing ongoing challenges and the labor market is constantly being reshaped by technological trends, our study attempts to provide a pragmatic analysis of the effects of digital skills and the use of the Internet on salaries and wages in EU member states. Since, according to our results, the levels of salaries and wages are strongly correlated with digital proficiency and Internet usage, a consistent effort to increase the digital skills of individuals may be required to achieve a more effective and flexible labor market.