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The 2024 Lloyds Bank Consumer Digital Index paints a clear picture: the UK’s digital skills gap is wide and affects everyone—from young adults and high earners to older populations and manual workers. This isn’t just a personal skills issue; it’s a systemic barrier impacting the economy, workforce productivity, and even national competitiveness. Without intervention, the UK’s position in the global economy is weakened.
As an organisation at the forefront of digital inclusion, Cosmic believes the need for action is clear and urgent, demanding commitment from individuals, businesses, and government alike to fully realise the economic and social benefits of a digitally skilled population.
Cosmic sees this report as a powerful call for government and business to lead with the necessary investment in digital skills, setting clear expectations across sectors for prioritising both time and financial resources. With strategic support, training providers like Cosmic can help close this gap, ultimately benefiting individuals, businesses, organisations, public services, and the wider economy.
Key Findings: The Widespread Reach of Digital Skills Deficiency
The Lloyds Bank report reveals some startling statistics:
- Workplace Skills Gap: Just 48% of the UK’s workforce can complete all 20 essential digital skills tasks needed for work. This is a critical barrier to productivity and efficiency across sectors and highlights a clear need for upskilling in the workforce.
- Young Adults Struggling with Digital Tasks: Contrary to expectations, only 57% of those aged 18-24 report confidence in performing essential work-related digital tasks. This signals that digital skills challenges are not confined to older demographics and underlines the importance of targeted support for young adults entering the workforce.
- High Earners are Not Exempt: Digital exclusion cuts across income levels. Even among higher earners, nearly one in three lacks confidence in crucial digital skills. The demand for support is broad, not just confined to low-income or older demographics, showing that digital skills gaps are a universal challenge in the UK.
- Gender Imbalance: Women are less able to complete the essential digital skills, and this year’s survey shows just over half of males (52%) can do all 20 Work tasks vs. 44% for females. This gap has increased in the past three years, and so women are not prioritising digital skills acquisition.
- Part-time Workers: only 35% of part-time workers reported their ability to complete all 20 work tasks, compared with 53% in the full-time workers (and self-employed workers) category.
Why This Matters: Economic Impact of Digital Exclusion
The economic impact of digital exclusion is real and growing. Those who are digitally capable save time, find better deals, manage finances more effectively, and secure higher-paying jobs. Digital confidence even boosts earnings, with digitally proficient manual workers 1.4 times more likely to earn over £35,000 annually than those lacking confidence. These findings reveal that digital skills are not just a personal asset but an economic necessity that impacts income, savings, and resilience. Without basic digital skills, individuals (and therefore the UK as a whole), are missing out on simple savings and higher earnings.
The digital divide also affects individual financial security. Those without digital skills are significantly more vulnerable to financial stress and higher costs in everyday transactions. They are also more than twice as likely to fall victim to scams. Imagine not being able to book a doctor’s appointment online or struggling to manage your finances due to low digital confidence. For many, this is the reality—and it comes at a high economic and personal cost.
FutureDotNow: A Coalition for Digital Change
FutureDotNow, a coalition of leading industry organisations, works to address these issues head-on by raising awareness, aligning industry efforts, and driving investment into Essential Digital Skills (EDS) training. As the South West industry lead for FutureDotNow, Cosmic CEO Julie Hawker is deeply involved in this mission to close the digital skills gap in the UK workforce. Julie and FutureDotNow are working collaboratively to prioritise digital inclusion across industries, making sure digital skills are recognised as an essential workforce capability.
Cosmic’s Role and Commitment
Cosmic’s employability and training programmes are already aligned with the Essential Digital Skills framework, providing training that covers core digital skills for everyday life and work. While we are based in the South West, the findings from the Lloyds Bank report indicate a strong need for our services across the UK. This data underscores our commitment to expand Cosmic’s digital skills and consultancy programmes beyond the region, reaching more people who urgently need these skills.
As Cosmic CEO Julie Hawker puts it: “The Lloyds report is a crucial reminder that the digital skills gap is a nationwide issue. With the right support, we can empower individuals everywhere to fully engage in a digital world and enhance their financial resilience. But to make this happen, we need strong and determined government backing, business action and a nationally coordinated approach to digital skills inclusion. This is a golden moment in time to achieve real progress and impact.”
A Call for Government Action—and Your Support
The 2024 Consumer Digital Index provides clear evidence of a nationwide digital skills gap and calls for decisive government action. Temporary funding, short-term project approaches, and delivery driven by output measures which do not relate to individual motivation simply won’t cut it anymore. We need a digital skills revolution, driven by a permanent national commitment to funding and embedding digital skills training in education, procurement, and workforce development.
We urge all organisations, from small businesses to national enterprises, to support FutureDotNow’s mission. By signing the FutureDotNow Charter, you can join a coalition dedicated to closing the UK’s digital skills gap and empowering the workforce of the future. It’s time for a digital skills revolution. Just as literacy and industrial skills drove progress in the past, digital skills are the key to the UK’s future.
Explore the Lloyds Bank Consumer Digital Index 2024
Get the full picture on the UK’s digital skills landscape. Read the Lloyds Bank Consumer Digital Index 2024 and see why investing in digital skills is essential for everyone’s future.
Share Your Story
Have you or someone you know experienced challenges due to a lack of digital skills? Share your story with us, and let’s push for a more inclusive digital future together. Contact Cosmic