In 2020, the global workforce lost an equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs, an estimated $3.7 trillion in wages and 4.4% of global GDP, a staggering toll on lives and livelihoods. While vaccine rollout has begun and the growth outlook is predicted to improve, an even socio-economic recovery is far from certain.
The choices made by policymakers, business leaders, workers and learners today will shape societies for years to come. At this critical crossroads, leaders must consciously, proactively and urgently lay the foundations of a new social contract, rebuilding our economies so they provide opportunity for all.
In this context, the Forum remains committed to working with the public- and private sectors to provide better skills, jobs and education to 1 billion people by 2030 through initiatives to close the skills gap and prepare for the ongoing technological transformation of the future of work.
How a top Chinese university is responding to coronavirus
Zhejiang University (ZJU) has proactively joined what might be the world’s largest remote learning experiment.
From virus-slaying air purifiers to delivery robots, how university inventions are fighting COVID-19
From virus-slaying air purifiers to delivery robots, academic innovations are playing a key role on containing COVID-19.
These are top universities in emerging economies
You don’t need to go to one of the famous-name Western colleges to receive a first-class education. The list of viable alternatives is getting longer and stronger, according to a new report.
This is how digital literacy can transform education
Schools and universities will need to change their curricula to educate students for a digital future that is inclusive, sustainable and collaborative.
We need to start teaching young children about cybersecurity
Children are using technology at ever younger ages - which is why we need to start teaching cyber safety to them at a younger age, too .
This is what makes a good leader - and a better team
Leadership lessons from high-pressure conflict zones can also apply in the world of modern business.
5 lessons for the future of universities
Our world is shifting rapidly and universities too must keep pace. Here are five thoughts forward-looking universities should consider.
Children's career ambitions are lagging behind the new world of work
Young people's career ambitions remain constrained by old expectations and gender roles – but working professionals can play a role in fulfilling their potential.
Here’s what Bill and Melinda Gates have learned from 20 years of philanthropy
20 years after they started their foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates look at the progressthat's been made in areas from health to education and gender equality.
Online marketplaces can help close Africa's skills gap
By offering training across many sectors, Africa's proliferating online marketplaces have the potential to reshape the continent's labour market
Prisoners in South Australia were given the opportunity to write. Here's what happened
'Life Sentences' encouraged South Australian prisoners to write - and showed how they might benefit from the experience.
Climate protesters dig up Cambridge college's lawn
In a bid to force the university and Trinity college to cut ties and investments with fossil fuel companies, Extinction Rebellion took to the college lawn with shovels and pitchforks.