The Digital Skills Gap in 2026: What UK Employers Are Looking For
The UK hiring market has changed. If your CV still leans on phrases like "proficient in Microsoft Office" or "computer literate", you are signalling that your skills stopped moving a few years ago.
Automation, AI and cloud-based tools have moved out of the tech sector and into everyday work in almost every industry. Employers across most sectors say they struggle to find people with modern digital skills.
That gap is an opportunity. When employers can't find a specific skill, requirements like a particular degree or years of industry experience can matter less. If you can clearly show you know how to use today's tools, you give yourself a real advantage.
Which digital skills are UK employers looking for?
These tools and capabilities come up again and again in UK job adverts. Here is how they look on a CV:
| Area | In-demand capability | Common tools | How it looks on a CV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operations and admin | Organising work and data in shared, cloud-based tools | Notion, ClickUp, Airtable, Jira, SharePoint | "Moved regional project tracking from spreadsheets to Airtable, cutting cross-team delays by 35%." |
| Marketing | Data analysis and AI-assisted content | Google Analytics 4 (GA4), HubSpot, basic SQL, Looker Studio | "Ran B2B lead generation campaigns using GA4 and HubSpot, lifting conversion rates by 22%." |
| Finance | Automated reporting and data visualisation | Advanced Excel (Power Query, pivot tables), Xero, Power BI | "Automated monthly reporting with Excel Power Query, saving 12 hours a month of manual work." |
| HR | People data and HR systems | Workday, BambooHR, Lattice, applicant tracking systems | "Improved hiring reporting in Workday, helping cut average time to hire by 14 days." |
1. The Operations Shift: From Doing Tasks to Designing Workflows
In operations and administration, the days of simply typing up minutes or managing a paper diary are fading. Businesses want people who can make work flow more smoothly.
That means understanding how to organise shared work in modern tools and connect them with simple automation. If your background is in administration, showing that you can set up and run projects in tools like Airtable, Jira or ClickUp sets you apart.
Don't write: "Highly organised assistant capable of handling team scheduling and digital paperwork."
Do write: "Administrator experienced in ClickUp and Jira, setting up shared project spaces that keep three teams' deadlines in sync."
2. The Marketing Shift: Embracing Data
Marketing decisions are increasingly made from data dashboards rather than gut feel.
Whether you are applying for a social media coordinator role or a brand manager position, you need to show you can follow the numbers through. That means going beyond likes and page views to conversion data in Google Analytics 4, dashboards in Looker Studio or automated email journeys in a system like HubSpot.
If you can show you make decisions from data rather than guesswork, you reduce the risk of a bad hire for the employer.
3. AI Skills Across Every Function
Many job seekers worry that AI will take their job. A more useful way to see it: people who use AI well are becoming more productive, and employers notice.
UK employers increasingly want candidates who can use AI tools responsibly to speed up research, draft documents, sort data and automate repetitive tasks, while checking the results. Being able to explain how you use AI in your daily work, and how you check what it produces, sends a clear message that you are ready for how work is changing. As AI takes over more routine tasks, judgement becomes the skill that sets people apart, which we explore in what employers want now AI does the graduate grunt work.
4. A Three-Point Digital Audit for Your CV
Before your next application, check your CV against these three points:
- Remove generic terms. Delete phrases like "internet savvy" or "computer literate". Employers assume these, and naming them makes your CV look dated.
- Name specific tools. Write "Salesforce", "Power BI" or "Asana" instead of "CRM experience" or "project tools".
- Link tools to results. Don't leave software sitting in a list at the bottom. Put each tool inside an achievement that shows the time or money it saved.
How can MyPathfinder help?
Knowing which skills matter is one thing. Explaining them clearly is another. MyPathfinder's CV Builder tailors your CV to each job description line by line, so the tools and skills an advert asks for are named on the page. Then the Interview Simulator lets you practise out loud with Elise across 250+ industry-specific questions, with feedback after every answer, so you can talk about your tools and results with confidence.
Build the skills, name them clearly and show what they delivered.