Digital Preservation and the Gen-Z Technology Skills Gap

I saw this interesting video by Ema Roloff on a Gen-Z skills gap as identified by Salesforce.

Of many interesting points:

  • Only 32% of Gen-Z feel ready to use technology when they go out into the workplace.
  • Millennials and Gen-X perhaps had to become more self-sufficient in technology growing up.
  • Despite being digital natives, friction points have been removed in a lot of software Gen-Z engage with.
  • Gen-Z might not have had to develop new skills alongside new technology.
  • Whereas different projects older generations might have engaged with may have provided them with strong technological foundations that help them today to troubleshoot, dig in, and figure it out.

troubleshoot, dig in, and figure it out…

Sound like anything?

Of course, today, these are core skills of digital preservation, especially the digital forensics aspects of the work, but practically most aspects of the role when faced with the many unknowns of legacy technology.

What I wanted to do, was not try and draw any meaningful distinction between the three generations I discuss above, I am not in a position to answer whether Gen-Z really are at risk of being worse at these things. Rather I wondered about different implications, and wondered what readers think?

In light of friction-less systems today, how do our systems evolve in the future? Do we end up with friction-less digital preservation?

Does our value in digital preservation practitioners today go up tomorrow as a result of a potential skills gap? Will the knowledgebases we are building today render it a moot point?

I’ll continue to ponder. I remember having to first think about digital native kids and thought what a cool thing there are folks who won’t have to wrestle with tech like some of us have had to, but if the problem has really just been transposed into another, I’m not so sure I would have wanted to be born into technology like Gen-Z.

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