In an uncertain economic condition like today, more people are anxious about their future career. According to recent survey conducted by Ipsos, on behalf of the World Economic Forum, both pessimism and optimism are apparent among workers as the crisis has accelerated trends towards automation and the use of artificial intelligence. While particular jobs will go, new ones that require different skills are also emerging.
In parallel, governments are considering the longer-term labour market implications of maintaining, withdrawing or partly continuing the strong crisis support they are providing to businesses to cover wages and maintain jobs.
The survey of 12,000 employed adults from 27 countries finds that over half (54%) of working adults have concern about their jobs in the next 12 months.
Job-loss concern in the next year ranges from 75% in Russia, 73% in Spain, and 71% in Malaysia, to just 26% in Germany, 30% in Sweden, and 36% in the Netherlands and the United States.
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The survey also finds that two thirds of employed adults say they can learn and develop skills needed for the jobs of the future through their current employer. About 2 in 3 employees (67%) say their employers will help them retrain on the current job for the jobs of the future.
Across the 27 countries, the perceived ability to learn and develop those skills on the job is most widespread in Spain (86%), Peru (84%), and Mexico (83%) and least common in Japan (45%), Sweden (46%), and Russia (48%).
The countries where those who can gain new skills on the job outnumber those who are concerned about losing their job by the largest margins are the United States and Germany (by 40 percentage points).
In reverse, job loss concern is more prevalent than perceived ability to acquire skills in Russia (by 28 points) and, to a lesser extent in Malaysia, Poland, Japan, Turkey, and South Korea.
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