RETHINKING HUMAN CAPITAL IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Abstract

Digital transformation is now a key characteristic of today's economies, altering both the way organisations function and the way work is carried out. Since technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, and data-driven systems are having an ever-greater impact on labour markets, human capital has once again come to the forefront of economic analysis. The traditional theory of human capital views skills as assets that are acquired via formal education and training and is expected to yield fairly steady returns over time. Although this approach was appropriate for the industrial age, it is less capable of dealing with the dynamics of digitally mediated environments involving rapid technological change and shifting requirements for skills, in which knowledge loses value more quickly and career paths become less predictable. In reply to this, the paper presents a conceptual argument based on three closely linked changes in the way human capital is understood: a shift from static skills to adaptive capabilities, from a single investment in education to ongoing development, and from individual expertise to relational and digitally embedded forms of capability, such as collaboration between humans and machines. The paper also points out the implications of these changes for social inclusion, especially in situations where access to digital infrastructure and learning opportunities is still unequal.