This paper explores how technological advances, climate change, globalization and changing demographics will shape industries in the future. It then analyses the challenges and opportunities these drivers and megatrends bring for the realization of decent work. This is followed by a discussion of the future of TCLF production in three different categories of countries. The paper concludes with a call for action to shape a future that works for all – for the tens of thousands of mostly small and medium-sized enterprises as well as the millions of mostly young women workers that produce the clothes, shoes, and accessories we all wear.

While an undergraduate degree in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) leads to rewarding careers for many, the transition from post-secondary education (PSE) to a career is not always smooth for these graduates. This report examines the career outcomes of SSH undergraduate degree holders, and the opportunities made available by some institutions to ease the transition from PSE to a career. It recommends, in particular, that PSE institutions, governments, employers, and other stakeholders pay closer attention to—and direct resources to address—the career transition challenges facing SSH graduates.

Work that uses basic digital skills is more likely to disappear than jobs that rely on decision-making, judgment and the ability to create digital content

In 2017, university and business leaders met to discuss gender equity, diversity, and inclusion in post-secondary education and the private sector in Canada. This report explores insights and recommendations shared at that meeting. With representatives from government and business, members of the Quality Network for Universities met in early 2017 to discuss ways to improve culture and leadership practices around gender equity, diversity, and inclusion in post-secondary education and the private sector in Canada. This report explores insights shared at the meeting, with the intention of continuing the conversation on gender equity in Canada; inspiring decision-makers to act; and engaging more deeply with the assumptions that can impact our judgment. Achieving gender parity has public and private benefits for Canada—it will require concentrated efforts by governments, employers, PSE institutions, and other stakeholders. PSE institutions have an invaluable role to play in achieving greater gender equity on and off campus. Achieving real change will require collaboration on the part of all stakeholders. Themes of gender equity through design thinking; gender and innovation; inclusive recruitment and retention in the workplace; and gender diversity on campus are explored in the report.

This report was commissioned by the UK Commission to contribute to the evidence base for Skills for Jobs: Today and Tomorrow, the National Strategic Skills Audit for England 2010. The report draws upon horizon scanning techniques, scenarios and interviews to identify the key drivers of change in the UK and globally which may impact on the employment and skills landscape in England by 2020. A further three reports were commissioned to contribute to the overall Audit these identify the strategic skills needs in the Financial Services, Bio-medical and Low Carbon sectors. We hope you find the report useful and informative in building the evidence we need to achieve a more prosperous and inclusive society.

Cross-sectional studies show that in West Germany women with different levels of educational attainment participate differently in the labor market. In this paper, I examine one potential underlying mechanism: the re-entry of mothers in the labor market after a period of inactivity. I argue that besides societal changes the reforms of parental leave legislation could be responsible for the educational divide in mothers' employment. Hypotheses are derived from human capital theory and labor supply theory assuming a rational behavior of women. Using retrospective life-course data from the IAB study ALWA, I find evidence that women with different levels of educational attainment have different re-entry patterns also when taking the educational attainment of the partner into account. Furthermore, parental leave schemes play a crucial role for re-entries. Some evidence of an educational polarization of re-entry behavior is found after the year 2000.

We don’t have to reinvent skills training models. Public, private and non-profit sectors can work together, and draw from international experience.

The rise of income inequality in advanced economies has generated serious debate and academic research, with much of the recent attention focused on the increasing concentration of wealth in the richest segments of the population. In this report, the McKinsey Global Institute has approached the issue of inequality from a different perspective by examining the share of the population whose incomes have stopped advancing when compared to people in the past with similar incomes or demographic profiles. This is an aspect of inequality that has received relatively little attention, perhaps because prior to the 2008 financial crisis less than 2 percent of households in advanced economies were worse off than similar households in previous years. That has now changed: two-thirds of households in the United States and Western Europe were in segments of the income distribution whose real market incomes in 2014 were flat or had fallen compared with 2005. In this research we set out to quantify the proportion of households in advanced economies with flat or falling incomes. We try to understand how much the recession and slow recovery since the financial crisis were the primary causes, and how much is attributable to other long-run forces. Finally, to help inform a debate, we catalog interventions that have been used around the world to address the problem and that could become part of a societal agenda to overcome the issue.

To make our innovation economy more inclusive we must better map workers’ skills and employers’ needs and enable people to gain future-relevant skills.