Davos Agenda: What you need to know about the future of work

The events of the past year have disrupted work, education and society.

From 25-29 January 2021, The Davos Agenda will bring global leaders together to discuss these challenges and the solutions needed to drive recovery and ensure that society and the future of work are sustainable and inclusive.

On the plus side, the pandemic has accelerated trends that have been a long time coming: digitization of workplaces and the platform economy, the expansion of remote and flexible work, and virtual education.

However: “for the first time in recent years, job creation is starting to lag behind job destruction – and this factor is poised to affect disadvantaged workers with particular ferocity,” according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2020.

The “global economic recession is deepening existing inequalities across global labour markets and reversing the gains in employment made since the Global Financial Crisis of a decade ago,” wrote the Forum’s Vesselina Stefanova Ratcheva and Guillaume Hingel with the launch of the report. And it’s hitting women, the poor, the LGBTQI+ community and informal workers especially hard. Meanwhile, more than 90% of students worldwide have been affected by school closures – and the most vulnerable, including students with disabilities and those without computers or internet access for remote learning, will suffer the most.

“The current moment provides an opportunity for leaders in business, government, and public policy to focus common efforts on improving the access and delivery of reskilling and upskilling, motivating redeployment and reemployment, as well as signalling the market value of learning that can be delivered through education technology at scale,” the Forum report explained.

Building back better must ensure society and the future of work are sustainable and inclusive – here's how.

1. Close the skills gap

Launched at the Forum’s Annual Meeting in January 2020 in Davos, the Reskilling Revolution Platform aims to provide better jobs, education and skills to 1 billion people over the next 10 years to ensure they can access the jobs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The initiative has reskilled 50 million people so far.

Now, reskilling is even more urgent. “The ongoing disruption to labour markets from the Fourth Industrial Revolution has been further complicated – and in some cases accelerated – by the onset of the pandemic-related recession of 2020,” said the Future of Jobs Report 2020.

The Forum’s Closing the Skills Gap Accelerators focus on four key areas: lifelong learning and upskilling, proactive redeployment and re-employment, innovative skills funding models, and skills anticipation and job market insight.

Specific tools needed to close the gap include universal access to connectivity and devices, skills-based credentials and certifications, building micro-credentials and widespread access to hands-on learning, argued Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, and Shireen Yacoub, CEO of Edraak.

2. Make workplaces more inclusive

“For too long, diversity and inclusion has been presented as a challenge to be ‘solved’,” explained Forum Global Shaper George Burton of the Edinburgh Hub.

“Looking beyond the doom and gloom, we can envisage a world in which diversity is the solution to the world's most pressing problems – from climate change to COVID-19,” Burton added.

In May 2020, the killing of George Floyd inspired companies around the world to support the Black Lives Matter movement and take action to end systemic racism. In addition to supporting employees and speaking out against injustice, companies can seize this moment to address disparities in talent sourcing and selection, improve benchmarking and cultivate a culture of inclusivity, as a recent Forum toolkit explained.

A new World Economic Forum coalition, Partnering for Racial Justice in Business, brings together 48 multinational companies to accelerate racial justice in business.

Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s good for the economy and for business. Open For Business, a coalition of companies advancing LGBTQI+ equality, shows a strong positive correlation between a country’s acceptance of LGBTQI+ people and the resilience of its economy. And for businesses, a “disability-inclusive business strategy” leads to 28% higher revenue and 30% higher profit margins.

3. Prioritize health and well-being

“The disruptions created by the pandemic – such as the large-scale shift to remote working – have demanded new approaches to the employee experience, engagement and motivation, from the onboarding of new talent onward,” explained Forum white paper "Resetting the Future of Work Agenda: Disruption and Renewal in a Post-COVID World".

The pandemic has accelerated some improvements. “According to one study, before COVID-19, only half of workers globally said their company mostly cared or cared a great deal about employee well-being. During the crisis, by contrast, 80% of employees in the United States felt that their leaders had acted proactively to protect their health and safety, and 78% thought that their organization had responded to the crisis appropriately,” the white paper continued.

“The challenge now will be how to maintain this level of support and engagement as the pandemic continues.”

From 25-29 January, join us for special addresses, leadership panels and impact sessions that will address many of the challenges discussed above, including:

You can watch the livestreamed sessions here.

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