A micro-documentary about the Skill Scale Project produced by Oxford Sparks.
The global workforce is urged to constantly reskill, as technology tremendously changes our labour market. But despite recurring fears of mass unemployment, current literature suggests that the (digital) “technology revolution” tends to mainly automate specific tasks rather than entire occupations. Some occupations will disappear but more importantly the remaining ones will change, and entirely new jobs will emerge. In this process, the skill composition of professions changes. The work that is eliminated has different skill requirements than the newly created jobs, resulting in the paradoxical situation of simultaneous unemployment and labour shortage – the (digital) skill gap widens. In this fast-changing labour market, systemic oversight is key: To understand which skills and occupations are most marketable and have a sustained demand.
The SkillScale project leads into a new domain of labour market research. It showcases how the analysis of online generated labour market data can help us understand the relevance of new skills and sustainability of novel occupations. Studying the economic complexity of large-scale data from sources such as digital labour platforms or online job vacancies could enable us to better comprehend how the processes of skill formation leads to the emergence of new occupations. Ultimately, the findings of the project allow us to establish a contemporary taxonomy of skills, understand their application and support automated, individual, and far-sighted suggestions on sustainable reskilling and training in a future of technological disruption.
Departmental Research Lecturer
Project role: Principal Investigator
Fabian is a Departmental Research Lecturer in AI & Work at the Oxford Internet Institute.
Eugenia investigates the role of skills and education for a sustainable future of work
Former MSc Student
Alongside her part-time MSc at the OII, Fiona works as a Research Associate for peace data applications and data ethics during violent conflict. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of Edinburgh.
DPhil Student
Matthew is a candidate for the DPhil in Social Data Science. His research is on technology and the future of work.
Former MSc Student
Ole explored public policy in times of digitalization. In particular, he wanted to look at how new data science methods could be used to improve policy-making. Before coming to Oxford Ole completed a degree in Political Science.
DPhil Student
Mar Carpanelli is a student on the DPhil in Social Data Science and a Data Scientist & Economist at LinkedIn.
Former MSc Student
Alejandra has focused on the use of data for digital equity, development, education and women’s empowerment. Her experience includes technology consulting for the government, non-profits and UNESCO.
Former MSc Student
Elina holds a BA in Combined Social Sciences and a MSc in Global Management. Prior to joining the OII, she worked for Finland's Foreign Ministry in Geneva and Helsinki, and spent 2 years at McKinsey.
3 March 2025
New analysis from researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute examines how businesses in the UK are responding to the hiring gaps in AI-related recruitment, and whether skills proficiency commands a higher salary than a higher education degree.
27 February 2024
2023 was the year AI really made its mark. It's been a wild ride for everyone from office workers to big companies, with even the experts scratching their heads.
24 October 2023
Researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, and the Center for Social Data Science, University of Copenhagen, find that the economic value of a skill is determined by how well it can be combined with other worker competencies.
23 October 2023
Should we all learn how to code to prepare for an uncertain future of work? In our recent article, we show that it pays to have skills centred around Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), 25 February 2025
Artificial intelligence replaces routine tasks while simultaneously increasing the demand for complementary human skills. The positive effect clearly prevails
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), 26 March 2025
The history of AI is shaped by impressive technological advances. However, a flexible and forward-looking labour market is needed to master this technological transformation.”
Oxford Mail, 10 March 2025
Employers in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector are increasingly hiring people based on their skills, rather than their education.
Yahoo Finance, 03 March 2025
Artificial intelligence has found its way into our workplaces and now many of us use it to organise our schedules, automate routine tasks, craft communications, and more.
This programme supports research in the sphere of AI & Work.
Digital technologies are transforming our work environments and demand for skills, with creative work severely affected. This project will use unique secondary data to measure changes in the UK’s creative service sector digital skill composition.
