Future of work: 4 initiatives enabling successful job transitions in a changing labour market

Technological advancements, economic shifts and the ongoing green transition are leading to profound changes in the global labour market and skill requirements. The Future of Jobs Report 2023 found that by 2027, approximately 25% of jobs will transform, with 69 million new positions created and 83 million existing roles displaced.

In this context, job transitions are required to enable workers to move out of declining roles and into stable and growing ones.

The World Economic Forum’s Framework for Preparing Workers for Dynamic Job Transitions proposes four key levers to prepare workers for transitions. It highlights the roles that public and private sectors can play in enabling these transitions. The four pillars of the framework read as follows:

Concerted efforts from all stakeholders and a cultural shift towards embracing lifelong learning and career fluidity are essential for building a resilient and adaptable workforce capable of navigating the future of work. But what does this look like in practice? How are real people and organizations turning these concepts into career-changing opportunities?

The following innovative case studies exemplify how governments and employers can use the enablers outlined in the framework to facilitate successful job transitions.

Japan is experiencing a growing imbalance between the available labour force and the demand for workers across various industries due to its declining and ageing population. Additionally, a notable shortage of skilled workers, particularly in technology fields, creates a scarcity of engineers and technology professionals.

Randstad Japan implemented a Boot Camp Training programme to facilitate career transitions into digital and IT roles, helping bridge this skills gap and providing a pathway for workers to enter the growing technology field. The programme offers intensive training courses lasting three to four weeks, combining online and face-to-face instruction.

Participants gain hands-on experience with actual equipment, focusing on entry-level digital and IT infrastructure skills. Upon completing the training, Randstad works proactively with existing clients and prospects, particularly system integrators, to secure entry-level job opportunities for programme graduates.

Since its inception in 2014, 3,000 participants have completed the training and transitioned from non-digital roles, such as shop clerks, waitstaff and beauty advisers, to digital and IT positions. This programme exemplifies the importance of re-skilling, multi-stakeholder collaboration and improving job matching efficiency in supporting job transitions.

Recent technological advancements and concerns about the future of work have made it challenging to find suitable jobs across all age groups in Austria. The AMS (Public Employment Service Austria) websites have extensive job-related content but it is hard for users to search it quickly and effectively. Additionally, Austria is seeing an influx of non-German speakers who lack information on finding suitable jobs.

Since January, the AMS has used the Berufsinfomat, a customized AI system based on ChatGPT, to provide real-time occupation information. This AI tool accesses AMS knowledge databases on professions, training and education, offering quick and comprehensive answers.

Users can ask questions in any common language and get relevant answers in the same language or translated to German. This tool can help understand what jobs are currently available, increase job matching efficiency and lead to job transitions.

The Berufsinfomat received 160,000 prompts in January 2024 and around 20,000 monthly inquiries. The tool’s feedback option has been extensively used to improve its content. Initial challenges with gender-related jobs, bias, and moral dilemmas were addressed, and the reviews are now positive.

Rural and semi-rural communes of the Metropolitan and Valparaíso Regions in Chile face high unemployment rates among vulnerable young people and women (up to 26% unemployment for young women, significantly above the national average).

To help young people and women transition into the labour market, Anglo American, IDB Lab, and Technoserve created the EmpleaT Programme, developing a comprehensive model that aligns women’s and young people’s skills with labour market demands.

It includes certified training in high-demand trades and personalized counselling to enhance socio-emotional skills, coupled with workshops on empowerment skills such as self-leadership and self-confidence. The programme thrives to promote female inclusion in traditionally male-dominated fields, such as industrial maintenance and welding.

EmpleaT drove a significant transformation within the private sector by partnering with recruiters to dismantle misconceptions that excluded women from jobs, exemplifying the importance and effectiveness of multi-stakeholder collaboration for job transitions.

From 2016 to 2019, the programme achieved a 40% employment rate of participants within six months post-intervention. Following the integration of new empowerment tools, this figure rose to 65% employability within the same timeframe from 2020 onwards.

Of those employed, 61% are women and 72% are young people aged between 18 and 35. Over the years, more than 3,800 individuals have been supported in transitioning to new and better jobs.

It is increasingly difficult for early-stage talent in emerging markets to find employment due to the growing working-age population, high levels of unemployment and technology’s impact on particularly lower-skilled entry-level positions.

Localized provides a solution to this problem through a talent tech platform bridging global employers with top early-stage talent in emerging markets to help young talent transition into the labour market.

It provides access to various job postings, including internships, entry-level roles and remote positions across different industries and career guidance. It also offers resources and support for career exploration, including webinars, workshops, and expert sessions to help users navigate their career paths.

Localized also fosters connections between students and industry professionals, enabling users to join communities focused on specific career interests and industry trends.

The platform serves over 100,000 university students and recent graduates, connecting thousands with recruiters and human resources leaders at top global companies. It thereby improves job-matching efficiency and exemplifies multi-stakeholder collaboration.

Job transitions are an inevitable response to the evolving demands of the global labour market, but governments and employers are key to supporting workers’ transitions for better outcomes. The Forum’s recently published paper explores job transitions through data identifying viable and desirable job transitions across a broad geographical scope and a larger collection of job transition case studies.