Total working age populations will continue to expand significantly in many countries particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia, even as global population growth slows, it said.
Creating sufficient employment opportunities in places where the workforce is growing, especially for young people, is a critical priority to lift potential output growth and help contain migration pressures, the report said.
Policy makers should consider the quality of jobs—for example, the productivity of workers, their wages, employment related benefits, and working conditions such as informal work arrangements, it said.
“In most cases, policies that boost job creation can also enhance job quality. Related employment issues also include increasing social and labour protection, raising participation rates, and easing sectoral transitions for impacted workers,” World Bank said.
“Creating sufficient employment opportunities in places where the workforce is growing, especially for young people, is a critical priority to lift potential output growth and help contain migration pressures,” it noted.
Overcoming the jobs challenge will require a comprehensive policy effort centered on three pillars, the report said.
The first is strengthening physical, digital, and human capital to raise productivity and employability, it said.
The second is improving the business environment by enhancing policy credibility and regulatory certainty so firms can expand, World Bank said.
The third is mobilizing private capital at scale to support investment. Together, these measures can help shift job creation toward more productive and formal employment, supporting income growth and poverty alleviation, World Bank noted.
In addition, developing economies need to bolster their fiscal sustainability, which has been eroded in recent years by overlapping shocks, growing development needs and rising debt-servicing costs, the report added.
Read the full report here: https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects
