From the editor: Bridging the digital skills gap

I think most of us would agree that the future of industry depends as much on smarter machines as on people with the skills to use them. In the latest issue of MRO, we look at a growing challenge facing manufacturers across Canada: the widening digital skills gap.

Last fall, KnowMeQ released the results of a national skills assessment conducted through the NGen Future Ready program and the findings were sobering. Of the 900 employees tested across 115 Canadian manufacturing companies, many lacked the reading, numeracy and digital competency skills needed to meet the demands of modern industrial jobs. This aligns with broader research showing that while 90 per cent of jobs in Canada will require digital skills in the next decade, only 54 per cent of workers currently possess them.

I interviewed KnowMeQ founder and CEO Matt Foran shortly after the report came out. He emphasized that this isn’t just a training issue, it’s a productivity issue. When workers lack foundational skills, it limits their ability to take on more complex tasks and slows down innovation across the board.

Foran explained that many workers interact with technology only at a surface level—using digital tools without truly understanding how they work. This, he said, is no longer enough.

“We need to develop a skill level that can help us to still remain the agents of direction for the technology, not just trusting the technology completely,” he told me.

He also pointed out that digital competency is deeply connected to other foundational skills like literacy and numeracy.

“If you are not literate and then subsequently numerate, your problem-solving skills will be lower, your critical thinking skills will be lower and your digital competency skills, of course, will be commensurate with that,” he said.

This issue’s cover story, “Mind the (Skills) Gap,” dives deeper into the implications of this growing divide. For this, writer Matt Jones spoke with experts across maintenance, manufacturing and workforce development to understand how organizations can respond through upskilling, smarter hiring and a renewed focus on adaptability.

On the topic of adaptability, Foran offered a note of optimism during our conversation “I think that Canadian manufacturers and the manufacturing workforce are adaptable,” he said. “A lot of the workers especially who have been in the workforce for many years have had new technologies come and go. In their own lives they’ve also had to adapt to different challenges and life experiences, that’s a positive.

“And I think that the idea, the definition basically of adaptability, is to be able to apply similar strengths and tools to new situations in times of uncertainty. And I think that that is a beacon of hope. You’ve got a really resilient workforce when it comes down to that.”

Perhaps with the right data, targeted support and a commitment to lifelong learning, the industry can bridge the skills gap. Because the future of maintenance and reliability isn’t just about machines, but the people who keep them running.