26 Jan 2021
Cumulative investments of governments and companies in upskilling and reskilling initiatives could boost global GDP by USD 6.5 trillion and create 5.3 million net new jobs by 2030, according to ”Upskilling for Shared Prosperity” report, launched at Davos by PwC and World Economic Forum. China will benefit the most from such an initiative, while the states of Central and Eastern Europe will benefit less, due in part to the structure of the economies and the level of education.
"The economies of Central and Eastern Europe still carry the burden of the transition to the free market namely: long-term unemployment, the lack of participation in labour markets, education systems that have not evolved at the same pace as labor market demand. That’s why they are more vulnerable to changes in new technologies that require high skills. Two years ago, we estimated that around 600,000 jobs in Romania will be affected, by 2029, by automation and digitization. We expect this process to be much faster in the new context, changed by the pandemic and we hope that both the government and companies will become increasingly aware that they need to invest more in education and upskilling", said Ionut Simion, Country Managing Partner PwC Romania.
The report notes that unemployment is expected to rise as economies continue to experience the effects of the pandemic. Therefore, upskilling the global workforce is key to stimulating the economic recovery from COVID-19.
The broader advantages of upskilling are the raise in productivity, more better jobs, paid fairly, which in turn helps reduce wage inequalities, in particular those created by skillbiased technological change.
Other findings of the report
From 25-29 January, the World Economic Forum (WEF) is holding its virtual Davos Agenda 2021, a week of sessions bringing together leaders from around the world to talk about how to restore trust in a post-COVID-19 world. “Upskilling for Shared Prosperity” released by PwC and the WEF, on the first day of this virtual meeting.
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Ionut Simion
Country Managing Partner
PwC Romania