How Digital Self‐Efficacy Boosts Employment Hope: A Multigroup Analysis Across Organizational Levels

The digital transformation of the workplace reshapes career development, making digital confidence a critical factor in employability. Beyond technical skills, individuals must also believe in their ability to navigate digital environments and adapt to evolving job demands. Digital self‐efficacy (DSE) represents this belief, influencing how individuals perceive their career prospects and ability to succeed in technology‐driven workplaces. While self‐efficacy has been widely studied in career research, less attention has been paid to DSE, and even less is known about how its impact on employability perceptions varies across organizational hierarchies. This study examined the extent to which DSE predicts employment hope (EH), a psychological construct that captures employability perceptions through psychological empowerment (PE) and goal‐oriented pathways (GOPs), and whether this relationship differs among senior executives, middle managers, and operational‐level staff. Using survey data from 471 workers in Ecuador, we applied partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLSs‐SEM) to test the DSE and EH dimensions, and multi‐group analysis (MGA) to assess group differences. The results indicate that DSE positively influences both PE and GOP, reinforcing its role as a key psychological resource for employability. However, the effect of DSE on GOP is significantly stronger among senior executives than among the other groups, suggesting that individuals in higher positions can more effectively channel their digital confidence in career planning and strategic decision‐making. In contrast, the relationship between DSE and PE remains consistent across all job levels, indicating that DSE fosters career confidence, regardless of organizational rank.