We study the effect of the diffusion of digitalization, measured as the level of expenditures in digital technologies, on labor demand within the manufacturing sector. We exploit unique information from a focus study of the quarterly survey of Unioncamere Piemonte (one of Italy’s most industrialized and technologically advanced regions) to measure the extent to which planned digital technologies investments impact hiring propensity, differentiated by educational level. Based on a representative sample of non-micro firms, our findings suggest a positive relationship between digital investments and the probability of hiring highly educated workers, mainly driven by the demand for individuals with a post-secondary technical institute (ITS) diploma and post-MSc qualifications or a PhD in STEM fields. Conversely, we also find that digital investments negatively influence the probability of hiring low-educated individuals, primarily referring to the demand for workers with secondary education. Our results reveal firms’ human capital upscaling dynamics powered by digitalization processes.

我们研究了数字化扩散（以数字技术的支出水平衡量）对制造业内部劳动力需求的影响。我们利用了 Unioncamere Piemonte（意大利工业化程度最高、技术最先进的地区之一）季度调查的重点研究中的独特信息，以衡量计划中的数字技术投资对招聘倾向的影响程度，并按教育水平进行区分。基于非微型公司的代表性样本，我们的研究结果表明，数字投资与雇用受过高等教育的工人的可能性之间存在正相关关系，这主要是由对具有高等教育技术学院 （ITS） 文凭和硕士后资格或 STEM 领域博士学位的个人的需求驱动的。相反，我们还发现，数字投资对雇用受教育程度低的人的可能性产生负面影响，主要是指对受过中等教育的工人的需求。我们的结果揭示了由数字化流程驱动的企业人力资本升级动态。