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Business & Economics

THE LEVEL AND CHANGES OF DIGITAL SKILLS IN GENERATION Z - THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ⁴
Eva Ivanova, Anna Lemanska-Majdzik, Malgorzata Okreglicka, Valentinas Navickas

ABSTRACT: The digital economy requires employees to have the digital skills that are essential for managing work activities, especially in an era of flexible forms of employment. Generation Z, which is currently entering the workforce, already has digital skills but needs to continuously upgrade them according to employers' requirements. Higher education plays a major role in their acquisition. The demands on this education have increased significantly in the Covid19 period. The aim of the scientific paper was to find out and evaluate the level of digital skills of Generation Z in Poland and Slovakia after the Covid19 period and also to compare them with the requirements of employers based on the survey conducted. The evaluation of the obtained data was carried out by using Statistica software. The results of the scientific investigation: the research conducted on the representatives of Generation Z showed that the average level of digital skills of Polish and Slovak representatives of Generation Z is quite high and at a similar level, as it is on average of 3.33 in case of Poland and 3.31 in case of Slovakia on a 5-point scale in the selected areas of digital skills. Moreover, Polish representatives of Generation Z declare that during the pandemic the level of their skills has not changed. Slovak representatives of Generation Z, on the contrary, claim that the pandemic period has positively influenced their digital skills improvement in line with employers' requirements.

KEYWORDS:  digital skills, digital competences, COVID-19 pandemic, Z generation.

JEL classification:  J24, O12, O31, O33, Q55

⁴Acknowledgments:  This paper was supported by the Slovak Ministry of Education’s Scientific grant agency VEGA: "Smart solutions and their impact on social and economic regional development in terms of Agenda 2030.” Project registration number: [Reg. No.: 1/0396/3].