A recent study has shown that Filipino employees believe that knowing basic information technology (IT) support and cybersecurity skills are two of the most important capabilities to have in a digitally-growing industry.
Economist Impact, a study supported by Google, conducted a survey of more than 1,000 employees across Asia-Pacific and found that 65% and 59.6% of the 100 Filipinos among them expressed wanting to develop IT skills and cybersecurity, respectively.
“Digitalization means that the country faces higher security risks as we can see in the news right now,” Google Philippines’ public policy and government relations head Yves Gonzales said during the launching of its free AI skilling online courses on Wednesday, Sept. 27.
Last week, the country’s state health organization, PhilHealth, was reportedly attacked by Medusa ransomware, which led it to temporarily shut down its systems while it underwent investigations.
Gonzalez also cited the cyber incident in 2022 wherein three in four local businesses reported to have experienced ransomware attacks in their computer systems.
Moreover, the study also showed that Filipino employees also show “stronger preference” for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning skills at a 42.3% rate than the regional average of 32.8%.
“Learning AI skills will be imperative and will definitely be a competitive advantage,” said Bernadette Necario, Google Philippines’ country director.
Despite the growing need for advanced digital skills, only 13% of the respondents found green skills to be the least in priority.
Barriers to upskilling
While there are high motivations to acquire these new digital skills, the repondents also admit that having poor internet access (41%) is one of the barriers to enrolling to online courses.
Having “not enough time” to spend (40%) came in second to the top barriers to upskilling. Meanwhile, the “high cost” of these new courses (30%) was also seen to keep some of the respondents to continue learning.
“In Philippine digital skills gap, employees expect their employes to provide recognition, such as certificates, information on skills for different roles, and of course, financial incentives,” Gonzalez said.
He added that the respondents consider the government as “primarily responsible” for giving the access to transform skilling programs, like seminars and bootcamps.
Despite knowing that employers have a role in making conducive environments for learning, the respondents also believe that they personally have a role in creating this change too.
Google recently announced that it has opened online courses for free through the Cloud Skills Boost Program as part of its commitment to make the country more digitally competitive.
The Philippines currently stands as the 51st country in the digital skills gap ranking, which places it as the 12th among the East Asia and Pacific countries.