![]() Although internet use has been increasing among older adults, a digital gap remains between age groups ( Pew Research Center, 2021). For older adults, the use of the internet allows them to find useful information, access health information, and connect with others via online communities and social media ( Leist, 2013 Cotten, 2021). With the internet, social interactions over a long distance have become possible for instance, video chatting via the internet can be useful for visual interactions when geographic distance or health limitations prevent in-person interactions. ![]() For example, historically, to conduct meetings, they may have relied extensively on face-to-face meetings rather than online video conferencing tools. Furthermore, many individuals in these cohorts have not encountered ICTs in their workplaces. This historical timing and life stage influence the types of ICTs used by different age cohorts. This concept of different cohort-specific relationships with technology illustrates the importance of ICT exposure as a function of historical timing and technology proliferation. On the basis of the life course paradigm, Sackmann and Winkler (2013) presented the following technical generations: (1) the mechanical generation (born before 1939), (2) the generation of the household revolution (born 1939–1948), (3) the generation of technology spread (born 1949–1963), (4) the computer generation (born 1964–1978), and (5) the internet generation (born after 1978). This perceived gap between people who have access to ICTs and those who do not or cannot access ICTs is referred to globally as the “digital divide” ( Compaine, 2001). Many older adults, who did not grow up with today's technologies (e.g., the internet and video conferencing), seldom use the latest information and communication technologies (ICTs), unlike younger age groups ( Cotten, 2021). Further, many people in later adulthood do not have direct or immediate access to such new technologies and, thus, have fewer opportunities to use these devices to garner additional benefits for their daily working lives ( Francis et al., 2019 Niesel and Nili, 2021). However, for individuals who are not adept at using technology or have difficulty adapting to technological innovations, living in a digitalized society may be problematic ( Lupton, 2015). The digitalization of society yields opportunities to maintain daily life activities (e.g., online classes, shopping, medical consultation) and stay engaged with social ties, even in the midst of a pandemic. The study underlines the importance of investigating the possible digital skills gained from the home office situation resulting from the pandemic. Our results based on logistic regressions suggest that significantly more women, younger employees, respondents with tertiary educational qualifications, and those whose work was not affected by unemployment or even business closure acquired new computer skills, regardless of whether they were working permanently or only partly from home. Of the older employees who worked only at home, 36% reported an improvement in their computer skills, whereas of the older workers who worked at home and at their usual workplaces, only 29% reported such an improvement. The descriptives indicate that full-time homeworking is more of an option among those with tertiary education and who already have some computer skills. The analysis of the survey responses of 11,042 employed persons aged 50 years and older revealed that, 13% worked only at home due to the pandemic, while 15% said they worked at home and in their usual workplace. This study investigated the explanatory factors of the computer skills gained by older workers who were working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, using representative data for 28 countries from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Whether the pandemic will be a push factor for the acquisition of computer skills in late working life remains unclear. Although increasing numbers of older employees (aged 50 years and above) are using digital technologies to work remotely, many of these older adults still have generally lower digital skills. 2Institute for Integration and Participation, School of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Olten, Switzerlandĭigital skills can be a valuable resource in work life, especially in such times as the current COVID-19 pandemic, during which working from home has become new reality.1Department of Sociology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.Ronny König 1 * and Alexander Seifert 1,2
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