Empowering Lifelong Employability in the World of Work

Goals like stopping the climate crisis, ending poverty and fighting inequality might seem like they are beyond the reach of the world of work. But they're not. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to give form to the global goal of building a better world for everyone. The world of work has a hugely important role to play in achieving this.

As a platform, it gathers employers, governments and workers - and its nature has never been more global than today. It is the main provider of livelihoods and financial security, and therefore it has a huge responsibility and opportunity to build a more sustainable future that works for everyone.

While some SDGs have more obvious ties to labour than others, employability is a common thread that runs through all of them. For example, SDG 4 - Quality Education - and SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth - sit squarely within the remit of labour and provide the foundation of sustainable employment. 

People make up the very core of the world of work, and therefore we must put people squarely in the centre of the transition to sustainable employment. Allow us to explain.

Quality education

SDG 4 stipulates that everyone must have access to free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. But it must go further than that. The world of work must focus on lifelong learning. The first step in achieving this is to narrow the gap between schools and the labour market. Work-based learning is a crucial piece of the puzzle.

Preparing young people for their arrival into the labour market isn't just crucial for them, it's crucial for their future employers. Equating academic achievement with employability was already archaic before the pandemic, but the growing divergence between the skills employers need and the ones candidates have has only been exacerbated by the crisis. Internships, apprenticeships and work-based learning experiences are a fantastic way to bridge that gap.

The Adecco Group's “La Grande Ecole de l’Alternance” in France combines the needs of companies, the expertise of training partners and the career aspirations of young job seekers to provide work−based training solutions. It clearly works, as 85% of the people who trained with the GEA remain in employment 12 months after completing their training.

Training at the core of development

But the learning shouldn't stop when people enter the world of work. Between digitalisation, the green transition and a power shift from employer to employee amid The Great Resignation, priorities are constantly being shuffled around. However, there is one priority that should remain at the core of any strategy going forward: training and skills.

The Global Workforce of the Future Report 2022 revealed that 77% of non-desk workers feel like they have a significant skills gap and a further 66% say that they will need to learn new skills to keep pace with digitisation. Only 36% of non-managers feel like their company has invested in their development. This is not only lacking from a talent retention point of view, but it is nowhere near enough if we want to achieve sustainable employment. 

Employers must learn to map skills and put development at the core of their future strategies. Not just because there is a hugely compelling business case for it, but because skills - which have never expired as quickly as they do today - are the foundation of lifelong employability and sustainable employment. The Adecco Group's TAG U Digital Campus provides courses and sessions for staff with the goal of establishing an 'always on' learning culture.

Decent work and economic growth

Decent work is about much more than just earning a living. It empowers workers to grow personally and professionally. It unequivocally respects everyone’s fundamental human and labour rights at work and actively fights exploitation, forced labour and child labour. It is always rewarded fairly for everyone. It is the only form of sustainable employment and it must be protected throughout the entire employment cycle - from non-discriminatory hiring protocols to empathetic management. 

Providing people with decent work is an important facet of the work we do - and we are proud of it. 

Personal fulfilment and professional achievement have long been viewed as separate, while they should actually be intertwined. However, the Global Workforce of the Future report paints a clear and worrying picture. A quarter of the global workforce has seen their mental health deteriorate in the past year and less than half feel like their employer is appropriately addressing mental health issues. As a result, almost 40% have suffered from burnout and 25% have been forced to take a career break.

On the other side of the coin, happiness and a healthy work-life balance feed back into people's professional lives. Lack of flexibility and autonomy and salary woes are the most prevalent causes for concern among workers worldwide. What motivates a worker to stay? Respondents in the report cite happiness, stability, good work-life balance, colleagues and flexibility.

Training at the core of empathy

Providing decent work requires empathy, and often needs to be taught or trained. Most of all, it requires understanding that leaders shouldn't have to choose between investing in people and investing in the business. They are inextricably linked. 

Giving workers agency by really listening, putting their needs up there with business needs and giving them the opportunity to progress are essential ways to engage staff and make their employment meaningful. 

Lifelong employment is about giving people access to decent, fulfilling and meaningful work by keeping their skills up to date with what is needed. This will require significant and intentional collaboration from every stakeholder in the labour market. Achieving SDG 4 and SDG 8 will not only make the workforce more agile in keeping up with today's rapid changes, it will make progress even more poignant. For the future to work for everyone, everyone must participate today.