PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

As many reports have noted during the last few years, achieving gender equality between men and women can make a real difference to economic prosperity across the World. One of the most important studies in this area is the Global Gender Gap Index from the World Economic Forum which annually benchmarks 156 countries across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment) and tracks progress towards closing these gaps over time. Whilst it would be natural to expect this gap to close every year, the 2022 report suggest that there has been slowing down in the achievement of equality across the World and this has been driven largely by a decline in large countries. This means that, given this data, it will take over 135 years to close the gender gap worldwide. Of course, this gap is not the same everywhere with Iceland yet again leading the way as the most gender-equal country in the world. Indeed, the othe...

  As we move into a new economy where there will be considerable changes to the way we manage work after the pandemic, various studies are beginning to focus on the increasing importance of soft skills within the economy.  Certainly, some have suggested that during the lockdown, skills such as empathy, flexibility and self-determination, have become increasingly important in managing not only ourselves during a challenging time but also others who work with us. This is not surprising as unlike the hard subject-related skills we teach students in schools, colleges and universities, soft skills are more to do with improving an individual’s ability to listen well, communicate effectively, be positive and manage conflict.  They are also about building trust, working well with others and managing time effectively. In other words, these are the type of skills that many of us would assume that most organisations would be developing amongst their employees every day.  The go...

How has the Covid-19 pandemic changed the prospects for workers around the World?  This was the focus of the “ The Future of Jobs Report ” from the World Economic Forum which brings together the views of business leaders with the latest data to create an understanding of the current situation and the future outlook for jobs and skills. A worrying trend for those in work is the finding that, in addition to some of the displacement in the labour market that the pandemic has created over the last eleven months, there are indications that any lost jobs will not be replaced as companies move to accelerate the adoption of automation.  For example, half of the businesses will be increasing the rate of automation of jobs, more than one-quarter of employers expect to temporarily reduce their workforce, and one in five expect to permanently lose employees. This raises the spectre of a jobless recovery that will be very different to previous recessions. However, the good news is that des...

For those who are trying to get a handle on what is happening to the current global economy, the Global Competitiveness Index is not bad place to start.  Published by the World Economic Forum earlier this year, the 666 page report provides a detailed analysis of the factors that drive productivity, growth and human development in those 141 countries that account for 99 per cent of global economic output.  These factors include business dynamism, health, infrastructure innovation capability; labour market, macroeconomic stability and skills which, when put together, measure the competitiveness of each individual nation. The world’s most competitive nation, which has leapfrogged over the USA from last year’s ranking, is the small island economy of Singapore although it still has work to do in terms of encouraging greater entrepreneurship and improving its skills base. In addition, the East Asia and the Pacific region is the most competitive in the world, followed by Europe and N...

With skills being seen as the top priority by chief executives in every business survey carried out in recent times, the latest “The Future of Jobs” report from the World Economic Forum is required reading for anyone associated with developing our economy. Not surprisingly, the study focuses on the impact of technological changes on employment and the transformations being faced by a range of different industries. It states that whilst there are threats that could negatively affect competitiveness and jobs as the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution begins to take shape, there are also great opportunities for developing better and more productive jobs that could improve the quality of life in all economies. In fact, whilst 75 million jobs may be displaced by a global shift in the division of labour between humans and machines, 133 million new roles may emerge that are more relevant to this new reality in the workplace. But what are the main issues facing policymakers here i...

In an analysis of the changes facing the global workforce, the World Economic Forum concluded that most of the skills that many employees currently have will be largely irrelevant by the end of this decade. And as other research studies have also demonstrated, many of the new competences that will be needed are related to digital skills not only in knowledge-based industries but across all sectors. Given this, the key question for many employers in this scenario is which digital skills will be most needed in the future? This is the conundrum that the innovation body NESTA has been analysing in detail through the novel method of examining online job adverts between 2012 and 2017 and the study reveals some fascinating and sometimes unexpected findings. First of all, the amazing number of digital skills across all sectors – 1,358 different types including 756 types of software - demonstrates the challenge in developing a coherent and comprehensive approach to training. These r...

The major challenge for educational systems across the World is not only about developing skills within young people (although that is a critical issue in many countries). In fact, the real issue is about addressing the need for reskilling amongst the existing workforce with the OECD reporting that over 25 per cent of adults have reported a mismatch between their current skillset and qualifications needed for their jobs. More critically, 35 per cent of the skills that are needed across industries will change over the next two years. That is why a recent report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) should be compulsory reading for politicians and policymakers who are trying to address some of the key competitiveness and productivity questions within their economies. “Accelerating Workforce Reskilling for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” examines some of the key challenges for greater lifelong learning for the existing workforce and comes up with a series of key recommendation...