Digital skills are now a necessity for jobseekers in every industry, even beyond marketing, recruitment company Hays is warning.

Hays Australia and New Zealand managing director Nick Deligiannis says digital literacy is growing in importance for nearly all consumers and every business around the world.

“From CEOs assessing the threat of cybercrime to marketers looking for the latest trending platforms, digital skills are now needed at all levels in most job functions.

“For example, rather than customer service representatives in call centres, today we see more live chat attendants who will interact with customers online and on social media. And rather than traditional sales forecasts that were based on the intuition of sales reps, today people are using big data to make more precise predictions.”

Deligiannis says Australia should follow the UK’s lead in education reform – the UK will next year become the first country in the world to implement compulsory coding lessons for children aged between five and 16.

Hays’ advice to jobseekers is to continuously update their digital skills regardless of their profession and industry, from creating apps to building powerpoint presentations to generating leads on social media to creating digital content.

Employers are shifting their focus from observing digital trends to developing their talent, including recruiting those who understand digital and can drive strategy.

Deligiannis says Hays now uses digital advancements to compare hundreds of thousands of resumes from candidates across the globe instantly.

“The digital world has afforded us all the benefits of rapid technological advancements, making it possible for businesses to reach people instantly from across the globe.

“But such advances can only be made with the skills to support them. The challenge for businesses is to find and continue to develop those skills so that they stay on top of emerging trends.”