State-of-the-art of smart working and digital skills development in social dialogue practices and Collective Labour Agreements

The present report aims at presenting a state-of-the-art overview regarding the impact and opportunities of digitalization on the world of work, and especially how some of the trends brought about by this phenomenon (i.e., remote work and digital skills development) are addressed by social dialogue and collective bargaining.

The report also contains an in-depth analysis of the Italian case, with a focus on small and medium enterprises of the metallurgy sector (which entails both manufacturing and digital companies). The necessary research for the completion of this deliverable was carried out through mixed methods, i.e., desk research, semi-structured interviews, expert consultation. The following paragraphs provide a brief overview of key findings that emerged for the research carried out.

Looking at the disparity between SMEs and bigger companies when it comes to use of digital technologies and workers´ digital skills, different reasons are to be found at the origin:

• elevated cost of digital technology,
• firms’ uncertainties about data security,
• absence of risk orientation by the management, the
• low awareness of the benefits of digital technologies or the lack of “self-efficacy” i.e. confidence of the SME owner and staff to use them productively