Digitally-skilled employees can boost HK’s annual GDP by US$47.5b: study 

Those with advanced digital skills can contribute about US$5.4b.

Employees with digital skills can boost Hong Kong’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) by US$47.5b, the AWS Hong Kong Digital Skills Study revealed.

The study added that advanced digital employees alone contribute an estimated US$5.4b to Hong Kong’s GDP. 

“This is attributed to higher salaries that these employees earn compared to those with a similar education who do not use digital skills at work,” the study stated.
 
Employees with advanced digital skills earn 58% more than similar employees who do not use digital skills which translates into individual gains of US$19,699. 

Apart from higher salaries, employees (50%) who use advanced digital skills also have higher job satisfaction, compared to those with intermediate skills (26%) and basic digital skills (36%).

Employers also benefit from advanced digitally-skilled employees and the use of digital technology, according to the study, adding that they reap higher business growth and innovation.

The study found that 65% of digitally advanced organisations in Hong Kong introduced new, innovative products in the last two years, compared to 51% of their less digital counterparts. 

More than half (57%) of organisations that run most of their business on the cloud also reported steady annual revenue growth of 10% or more, compared to 30% of those that use the cloud for some of their business.