We type more than ever – but it's not taught

Why typing is everywhere in modern work, yet nowhere in our education system

October 25, 2025

I wasted years of my life typing the wrong way. It wasn't until university that I recognized how crucial typing skills are. Throughout my K-12 education, we learned many things—except possibly the most important skill: keyboarding.

Having taught myself touch typing, I can say it's possibly the most useful skill anyone can learn.

Browse any Reddit threads asking something like: "What skill do you wish you learned sooner?" or "What are the most useful skills you learned?" and you'll find dozens of comments mentioning touch typing (or keyboarding).

Out of curiosity, I decided to look at the data; how many jobs actually require keyboarding and how many students are taught it.

The results surprised me.

The Decline of Typing Education

Turns out, keyboarding is a neglected skill in our education system today.

I found a study by the National Center of Education Statistics that shows the percentage of high school graduates earning credits in keyboarding (and related courses) between the years of 2000 and 2019 in the United States.

These are the numbers:

In the early 2000s, it seems that schools had a much higher emphasis on teaching keyboarding than we do today.

In 2000, the percentage of high school graduates earning credits in keyboarding and related courses was 44.1%. That is impressive; almost half of all high school graduates were taught keyboarding to some extent.

I suspect a few factors behind this large number in the early 2000s but the main one is probably the excitement around the "tech boom". In the 1990s and early 2000s, the future of work was framed around computers and "knowledge workers" — so schools responded by adding keyboarding to their curriculums.

However, fast forward to 2019 and that number has decreased to 2.5%! This is a 42 percent drop of a core skill in our education system over the last two decades. I was shocked that this is the case.

Over the last two decades, computer usage in the workplace has only increased; computers became cheaper and more powerful and more industries became digital so the number of jobs using keyboards has only increased.

Keyboarding in the Labour Market

So I looked into some stats regarding computer use and keyboarding in the workplace. There were a few relevant studies I discovered.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published an Occupational Requirements Survey in 2019 which states that keyboarding was required for 63.3 percent of all workers. In Canada and in Europe - that number is in a similar range; about 60%. So, across the USA, Canada and Europe; 6 out of every 10 jobs require keyboarding.

So Why Do Schools Neglect Keyboarding?

I was curious why this is the case - why are the education systems neglecting this core skill. There are several factors here.

Test-Result Maxing

Typing isn't explicitly tested on standardized exams so many schools de-prioritized it. And if a certain skill/topic isn't tested - then it isn't that important to prioritize for students.

The "Digital Native Myth"

It's been coined as the "digital native myth"—the belief that kids who grow up with computers will naturally develop typing and other digital skills. Many teachers and school boards assumed that because students have easy access to devices, they'd automatically pick up proper keyboarding.

However, this is not the case.

As a personal anecdote: I was teaching some programming to a family friend—showing them Python. They looked down and couldn't find the colon key. It took about eight seconds before I pointed it out.

Being exposed to a tool doesn't guarantee proficiency with it.

Curriculum Pressure

Another reason keyboarding fell away is simple: time. Teachers and administrators are under pressure to fit more content into the same number of hours. According to Education Week (2024), many districts cut stand-alone typing classes to make room for subjects tied to standardized tests. Some merged keyboarding into general "digital literacy" units, which left students with only brief exposure rather than sustained practice.

The Disconnect

The disconnect is staggering. We're preparing students for a world where typing is fundamental, yet we've nearly eliminated typing instruction from our schools. Over 60% of all jobs require keyboarding skills and only 2.5% of all high school graduates have classes related to keyboarding.

Typing is a critical skill, and most are not taught it.

Thanks for reading!

If you want to practice typing - try TypeQuicker

Sources

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2019). Occupational Requirements Survey

2. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (2023). Baseline for Work: 92 Percent of Jobs Require Digital Skills

3. European Commission Joint Research Centre (2019). The Changing Nature of Work and Skills in the Digital Age

4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023). Occupational Requirements Survey: Architectural and Engineering Managers

5. National Center for Education Statistics (2019). High School Transcript Study

6. Statistics Canada (2005). Computer Use at Work

7. EdWeek (2024). Typing Is Still a Foundational Skill. Do We Teach It That Way?