Skills in Action: Empowering Workers for Today and Tomorrow

The global labour market is undergoing a seismic shift, driven by climate change, demographic transitions, and rapid technological advancements. These forces are reshaping the nature of work – destroying some jobs, creating new ones, and altering how and where people work. In the Global South, where labour markets are highly fragmented and informality is widespread, these changes present both significant challenges and opportunities. Skills development is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone for enabling workers to navigate this ever-changing world of work, equipping them to adapt to disruptions and seize new opportunities. 

The future of work has become a central concern in policy discourse and public debate over the past decade, but the current conversation falls short of providing meaningful direction to the Global South.  Research and practice are frequently fragmented, examining skills development in silos, such as technology or renewable energy, without accounting for the systemic interdependencies that make skills ecosystems effective. This gap is particularly stark in the Global South, where labour markets demand a deliberate systems design to integrate diverse socio-economic contexts, labour statuses, and occupational spectrums. 

In this webinar, the speakers presented an overall picture and relationship between the macroeconomy, labour markets, and skills development, with insights from South and Southeast Asia, Southern Africa and Latin America. 

Highlights of the discussion: 

Key findings: 

• South African and South and Southeast Asian countries are witnessing a decline in productivity growth. Their pace of job creation is not at par with that of demographic change and the move out of subsistence agriculture. While a growing proportion of the population is being absorbed in the services sector, a majority of this is in no- or very low-value added activities. 
• While the rise of e-commerce platforms came with a promise of addressing challenges of offline labour markets, the biases of offline economies, including gender inequalities, are also replicating in online economies, especially in the global south. 
• Female labour force participation is rising in many countries of South and Southeast Asia, Southern Africa and Latin America. But much of this increase is concentrated in insecure service economy jobs or informal employment, with little to no opportunity for growth or upward economic mobility. 
• In many countries across these three regions, the current vocational training architecture is reactive in nature and does not respond to the medium and long-term needs of the labour market.  
• Education systems mirror the duality seen in labour markets, where formal and informal employment coexist and are influenced by income and gender disparities. Elite education and training institutions are often the only ones equipped to innovate and align with the evolving demands of the labour market, while the rest of the system struggles to keep pace. 

Recommendations: 

• Greater investment is needed to enhance the capacity of education and skills training institutions to innovate and effectively respond to changing labour market needs.  
• A workforce with a strong foundation in general education is better prepared to adapt and reskill in response to rapid technological advancements and the energy transition. Education and skills training systems must prioritize fostering critical thinking, STEM competencies, and effective communication to build this essential foundation. 

About FutureWORKS Collective (FWC)

The FutureWORKS Collective (FWC) is a global initiative funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) that addresses the unique opportunities and challenges shaping labour markets in the Global South. Coordinated by the JustJobs Network, FWC unites five distinguished research organisations as regional hubs to examine critical labour market issues, including the impacts of technological advancements, the proliferation of artificial intelligence, climate change, and energy transition. By fostering collaboration, generating evidence-based research, and engaging in policy advocacy, the Collective aims to bridge regional insights, amplify a unified global voice, and drive practical solutions toward a more equitable and inclusive future of work.