The 2021 World Economic Forum Jobs Reset Summit this week brought together more than 500 leaders from government, business and civil society to set a new agenda for growth, jobs, skills and development. equity. The action-oriented virtual event aimed to lay the foundations for a new economy, which offers opportunities for all.

“The pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities – without action we can expect a K-shaped recovery. The Jobs Reset Summit and related initiatives urgently focus on ‘rebuilding wider’ by expanding access to education, retraining and quality jobs, integrating gender parity, racial equity and social justice, and providing a platform for important debates on new growth models , taxation, economic prospects and job creation, ”said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum.

Accelerate the retraining revolution

Launched at the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, the Reskilling Revolution platform aims to provide one billion people with better education, skills and jobs by 2030.

A new alliance, SkillsLink, was announced at the summit as an essential component of the retraining revolution. The alliance, which aims to make skills the bargaining chip of the labor market, initially includes 18 multinational companies and e-learning providers, representing more than 200 million learners worldwide. The alliance will adopt a common language for skills; recognize competency-based credentials; partner in the delivery of competency-based learning; and adopt and advocate for skills-based workforce strategies.

In addition, education ministers joined leaders in technology, e-learning companies and foundations to lay the groundwork for a new Education 4.0 initiative, dedicated to integrating the education as a key element of economic recovery policies.

Good jobs and the new economy

Initially, 14 companies formed a New Labor Standards Partnership aimed at setting a new benchmark for a healthy, resilient and fair future of work. Participating companies will co-create a framework for good labor standards, with input from unions and independent experts, commit to raising the bar for good work for their sectors and put a future of work strategy at the forefront. agenda of their board of directors. Learn more about the founding companies here.

Rebuilding more broadly: political avenues for economic transformation, a guidance note, was launched at the Jobs Reset Summit. As the world emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the report identifies the most pressing economic and social challenges and presents concrete response options to shape an inclusive recovery. Areas of interest include fiscal and monetary policy, jobs and wages, education and skills, equity and social justice, the creation of new markets, and border risk management. In these six areas, the publication emphasizes policies and partnerships that will offset the current trend towards K-shaped recoveries within and between economies and create more inclusive economic and social outcomes.

A quarterly Perspectives from Chief Economists was also released at the Summit. Based on consultations and surveys with the Forum’s community of chief economists, this edition provides an overview of the state of the recovery and provides forecasts on growth, inflation, debt sustainability, risk of economic scars and social unrest.

Integrate diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice

The Partnering For Racial Justice In Business coalition, launched at Davos Agenda in January 2021, now includes 58 organizations, representing 13 industries and 7 million employees. The group advanced its discussions on tackling racism in the workplace and driving systemic change to embed equity in the new economy.

The Closing the Gender Gap Accelerators are a global network of national efforts to bridge gender gaps and reshape gender parity for the future, supported by the Forum. At this week’s summit, Kazakhstan announced the creation of an accelerator. The first of its kind in Central Asia, Kazakhstan joins Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Panama and Peru to create focused public-private collaborations on increasing the participation of women in the labor market, reducing the gender pay gap and helping more women develop in-demand skills and advance to managerial positions.

Finally, the pandemic and its fallout have created an opportunity to increase the level of ambition of companies to progress in the area of ​​social justice. A broad alliance of business leaders and corporate sponsors came together at the Summit to better define and achieve ambitious “S” goals for ESG.

What leaders said about Shaping an inclusive recovery

The event brought together more than 500 leaders from government, business, academia and civil society to set a new agenda for growth, jobs, skills and equity. Read what they had to say about the event here, with quotes from great voices including: John Goodwin of The Lego Foundation; Wendy Clark of Dentsu International; UCL Professor Mariana Mazzucato, Alex Liu de Kearney; Dr Tariq Al Gurg of Dubai Cares; Sharan Burrow of ITUC; Badr Jafar of Crescent Enterprises; Gabe Dalporto from Udacity; and Lazzat Ramazanova from the National Commission for Women’s Affairs, Family and Population Policy of Kazakhstan.

Business and government leaders are invited to join the key initiatives put forward at the 2021 Jobs Reset Summit, namely the Retraining Revolution, SkillsLink, the Partnership for New Work Standards, the Partnership for racial justice in business and closing the gender gap. Deloitte’s world class became the latest corporate initiative to join the Reskilling Revolution Business Alliance. WorldClass and the Forum encourage the submission of innovative and scalable educational solutions to the UpLink platform.

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