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.
Is the idea of the 'resilient woman' problematic for women today?
In media and popular culture, women are increasingly encouraged to become resilient. This is problematic.
Gig workers would give up half their hourly wages in exchange for a steady job
Freelancers, gig workers and the self-employed like flexibility, but they would much prefer job security, writes Nikhil Datta.
3 ways to ensure innovation transforms the lives of the next generation
From Colombia to China, new technologies are helping communities gain unprecedented access to information and opportunity.
We need to update our laws against online sexual abuse
Sexual abuse happens online, too – but current laws leave too many victims unprotected
The US women’s football team and the fight for equal pay
The US Soccer Federation agreed to enter into mediation with the US women's soccer team after a lawsuit was filed following the revelation that the men's team would have earned over six t...
We urgently need to future-proof the workforce. Here's how
How can we update our education, labour and social policy structures to cope as new jobs emerge and old roles are replaced?
Is academia losing its chance to capitalize on technology?
Whether it's storytelling, videos or gamification, we need new learning pathways that tailor curricula to the ways in which each student learns best.
Female menstrual pain is still taboo -- here's how we can that
For the majority of women, their productivity at work, university or school is impacted every month by excruciating menstrual pains. This can be changed, from talking more openly about it...
This Spanish woman is combining boxing and politics to champion women’s rights
Beaten up by her partner when she was pregnant with her first child, the young Spaniard has since used boxing, and now politics, to champion women's rights
Good news for teachers in Bhutan – the government is doubling their pay
Money might not buy happiness but it could help to transform the school system in the Himalayan kingdom
Stonewall 50. Where next for LGBT+ lives?
Since the Stonewall riot in New York, 50 years ago, LGBT+ rights have improved around the world. However, gay sex still remains illegal in 69 countries, and progress has stalled somewhat ...
Women in Asia are having a powerful impact on business
Firms whose boards were at least 30% female generated more income from their assets than those with all-male boards.