In 2020, the global workforce lost an equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs, an estimated $3.7 trillion in wages and 4.4% of global GDP, a staggering toll on lives and livelihoods. While vaccine rollout has begun and the growth outlook is predicted to improve, an even socio-economic recovery is far from certain.
The choices made by policymakers, business leaders, workers and learners today will shape societies for years to come. At this critical crossroads, leaders must consciously, proactively and urgently lay the foundations of a new social contract, rebuilding our economies so they provide opportunity for all.
In this context, the Forum remains committed to working with the public- and private sectors to provide better skills, jobs and education to 1 billion people by 2030 through initiatives to close the skills gap and prepare for the ongoing technological transformation of the future of work.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Evolution and economics: How natural selection helped kick start industrialisation
Evolutionary changes could have played a crucial role in industrialization, according to new research.
Education and Skills
Gravity lightens the load for Nepal's hard-working rural women
Women have suffered injuries and miscarriages due to carrying heavy loads, but a pulley system has transformed their work.
Jobs and the Future of Work
It’s a dangerous job – but does someone have to do It?
Is higher pay really an appropriate and ethical solution to exposing workers to employment where they could be seriously injured or killed?
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Why this company wants to make reading an ebook more like a video game
Books too boring? Maybe they need badges and achievements for kids who finish their reading homework.
Wellbeing and Mental Health
This is the skill students need to bounce back from failure
To help children overcome setbacks and stress at school, teachers and parents should aim to teach them five key personal skills.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
How to close the gender pay gap in three steps
Companies that want to close the gender pay gap and compete for the best talent will need to increase their efforts to recruit more women to executive positions - and they can start by ta...
Education and Skills
This is what the gender pay gap looks like in eight countries
The gender pay gap still exists. But a new report shows things are heading in the right direction.
Education and Skills
This is what a genderless AI voice sounds like - and why it matters
A coalition of activists, linguists, ad makers, and sound engineers has created a genderless AI voice for virtual assistants.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
UK companies urged to boost efforts to close gender pay gap
British companies must dramatically ramp up efforts to close the gender pay gap, equality campaigners said on Thursday ahead of a midnight deadline for organisations to report pay differe...
Arts and Culture
Scottish 'Holocaust heroine' who saved Jewish girls lauded in book
A Scottish "Holocaust heroine" and quiet champion of educating girls helped save many Jews in Hungary before dying herself in a Nazi concentration camp, according to a book out released o...
Education and Skills
A new Welsh curriculum aims to make education more holistic. Will it work?
Curriculum reforms are currently taking place in several more economically developed countries and regions across the world. Wales, New Zealand, British Columbia and more are overhauling ...
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
10 things the Equality Act would mean for LGBT+ Americans and its supporters
The Equality Act would protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.