Hit hard: People with needs queuing up for food handouts, distributed by non-profit organisation Tenohasi, at a park in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo. — AFP
The OECD unemployment rate has since fallen but is expected to remain above pre-crisis levels throughout 2022. How, then, should government and business leaders begin to shape a new labour market in 2021 and beyond – and support workers to thrive in the jobs of tomorrow?The immediate response to the economic challenges posed by the pandemic was unprecedented. Governments around the world pumped trillions of dollars into the global economy, providing the necessary short-term support for businesses and workers in sectors that could not operate at full capacity.
Public and private employment services will also need to be expanded to support unprecedented numbers of job seekers in their reskilling and job transition from declining occupations to emerging or growing occupations.It is estimated that 50% of currently employed workers will need reskilling by 2025 to meet the needs of a changing labour market. This will demand a significant expansion of mid-career reskilling and upskilling.
The crisis led to a fivefold increase in employers’ provision of online learning opportunities to their workers and a fourfold increase in the number of individuals seeking online learning on their own initiative. Young people have faced disruption to planned assessment and university closures. In addition, as hiring has slowed, young people entering the labour market areTop-earning workers have been able to work from home, while low-earning workers have less opportunity to do so.
Without govt interference