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. 

This webinar seeks to address these pressing issues to discuss how skills development systems can better align with dynamic labour markets in the Global South. The conversation will unpack the current state of labour markets across Africa, Latin America, and Asia, exploring their shared and divergent challenges. It will delve into education and skills training systems, focusing on their effectiveness and the persistent mismatch between skill supply and market demand. Finally, the webinar will address how labour markets are evolving in response to transformations in technology and climate change. 

Join us for this engaging session as we reimagine skills ecosystems to support resilient and inclusive labour markets. 

Speakers: 

• Stephanie Matseleng Allais, Research Chair of Skills Development and Professor of Education at the Centre for Researching Education and Labour, University of the Witwatersrand 

• Ramiro Albrieu, Lead, Sur Futuro 

• Sabina Dewan, President and Executive Director, JustJobs Network (moderator) 

Date: Monday, 2 Dec 2024 

Duration: 60 mins 

Time: 5:30 – 6:30 PM IST 

Medium: Zoom 

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 (JJN), 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.