According to a new Kaspersky survey, over half of employees in the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa region feel a lack of digital skills when working on computers and other digital equipment. If they had higher digital skills, employees think they would earn 41 per cent more, on average. Specifically, respondents in Egypt said they would earn 53 per cent more money with higher digital skills, and in the UAE – 44 per cent more. Respondents in Saudi Arabia indicated their salary would increase by 36 per cent if they had better digital skills, in Turkiye – by 35 per cent, and in South Africa – by 36 per cent.
Employees understand the importance of acquiring new digital skills and honing their existing ones. In the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa region in general, 79 per cent of employees tried to uptake paid or free digital literacy trainings on their own. In Egypt, this number stands at 75 per cent, in Saudi Arabia – at 70 per cent, in the UAE – at 91 per cent, in Turkiye – at 81 per cent, and in South Africa at 76 per cent.
The lack of digital skills may not only impede one’s career and deprive them of income, but also produces serious risks for the cybersecurity of the organisation where this person is employed. The ‘human firewall’ is one of the key defenses from cyber incidents. Employees can open a phishing link or download ransomware on corporate device and it’ll produce financial and reputation losses for company. This is why workers on any levels — from top managers to interns — should receive proper IT and cybersecurity training.
Emad Haffar, Head of Technical Experts META at Kaspersky, commented: “While digital skills today are the linchpin for career advancement, employers should not forget about the synergy between individual upskilling and organisational cybersecurity. When companies invest into IT & cybersecurity trainings for their staff, they not only boost their reputation as employers who care about the prosperity of their employees, but also contribute to increasing the cyber protection of organisational infrastructure. Special solutions, such as Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform, help to effectively achieve both these goals.”
