Digitalisation and the Skill Requirements in the Labour Market—Evidence from the Past 4 Decades

The vast majority of recent research on the impact of technology on the labour market focuses on automation. However, the interplay between workers and recent technological changes is much more complex. Recent technological developments complement the creative and analytical capabilities of workers, for example, and new tasks arise. In this project, we will shed light on the question how workers whose jobs are subject to technology-driven adjustment shocks change the tasks they perform, paying particular attention to new tasks and tasks that are complementary to the capabilities of digital tools. The analyses will cover about 4 decades, from the end-1970s to the end-2010s, allowing a detailed depiction of technological changes over time, and the changes in workers’ task inputs.