Re-Centring Employment in Growth Strategies in the Global South

In her essay “Re-Centring Employment in Growth Strategies in the Global South” for Observer Research Foundation’s anthology “South Africa’s G20 Presidency: Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability in an Era of Discord”, JJN’s Sabina Dewan underscores the acute shortage of quality jobs and the growing precarity of work across the Global South, driven by intersecting factors such as technological disruptions, energy transitions, trade shocks, and geopolitical tensions.

She writes, “The first quarter of the twenty-first century has been marked by a convergence of transformative forces such as climate change, technological acceleration, demographic transitions, the COVID-19 pandemic, trade disruptions, and geopolitical tensions, that have reshaped the patterns of living and working.

Disruptions have occurred in the past, but the current juncture in our history is distinctive in both the simultaneity and intensity of these overlapping phenomena, as well as the unprecedented scale and pace at which they are altering economies and labour market dynamics.”

To address this severe job crisis and the resulting socio-economic disparities, Sabina calls on the G20—under South Africa’s presidency—to reaffirm its commitment to “advancing decent work policies that foster a future-ready workforce”.

She further outlines five key policy priorities to revive growth and employment:

• Strengthening of local ecosystems for job creation and income generation: In contexts where national policy space is constrained, local strategies that leverage place-based strengths and resources, and that are tailored to a particular region based on its existing industries, skills base, and resources is key to stabilising employment.
• Investing in human capital development: The confluence of technological advancements and demographic shifts in developing economies underscores the need for substantial investment in human capital development. This includes reforming and modernising education and training systems to improve youth employability.
• Building robust data systems to support adaptive regulatory frameworks: Ongoing labour market disruptions necessitate adaptive regulatory frameworks informed by regular data collection. Collection of more granular, disaggregated data at sub-national levels, and the use of alternative data can help inform policy and implementation.
• Prioritising public interest over commercial imperatives: Robust enforcement of competition law and regulatory instruments is essential to curb the growing consolidation of data, capital, and power in large corporations, particularly in the technology sector.
• Reinforcing labour market institutions: Governments must reject the premise that any employment is preferable to unemployment. Low-quality employment exacerbates income inequality, squanders productive potential, and diminishes aggregate demand—all of which are detrimental to economic growth.

Read the full essay here.