Future of work
A curated resource of recent research on trends shaping Canada's labour market.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) released their latest installment of the World Employment and Social Outlook series, highlighting key forecasts in global labour market and justice efforts for 2023.
Several conflicts have contributed to labour market challenges globally. Post-pandemic recovery efforts, war, displacement crises, looming recessions and environmental catastrophes have presented a climate of uncertainty around decent work.
Currently, the global jobs gap stands at 473 million people (12.3%), a measure that highlights the unmet need for employment worldwide.
Women and young people continue to experience disparate access to decent employment. The participation rate of women is at 47.4% as compared to 72.3% for men. The unemployment rate for young people aged 15–24 is nearly three times that of adults over 25. More than one in five youth are not in education, employment, or training (NEET). Global employment is expected to expand by 1% in 2023 (compared to 2.3% in 2022).
However, projections for 2023 demonstrate that labour market improvement will vary by region. Africa has an expected growth rate of nearly 3%. For Latin America and the Caribbean, the expected growth rate is 1%. Europe, Asia and North America, however, are expected to see limited growth, with a rise in unemployment.