Disrupting Unemployment

The report identifies a global crisis where over 200 million people are unemployed, with youth particularly affected, while employers simultaneously struggle to find talent due to a structural skills gap. It argues that business-led partnerships are essential to disrupt this trend. The document categorizes solutions into three areas: developing employment skills (e.g., vocational training and apprenticeships), fostering entrepreneurship (e.g., mentoring and financial support for start-ups), and connecting talent to markets (e.g., digital matchmaking and inclusive hiring). It outlines key success factors for these initiatives, including the need for multi-sector partnerships, alignment with core business interests, and the use of ICT to scale impact.

• Global unemployment is a critical challenge, with more than 200 million people out of work and projections suggesting this will rise to 215 million by 2018.
• Youth are disproportionately affected by the unemployment crisis, with 75 million unemployed and nearly 290 million young people neither working nor studying.
• There is a significant mismatch between available skills and employer needs, with 36% of global employers reporting difficulties in finding talent in 2014.
• The report identifies three primary areas where businesses can intervene to address unemployment: developing employment skills, fostering entrepreneurship, and connecting talent to markets.
• Multi-sector partnerships are considered indispensable for implementing scalable solutions, with approximately two-thirds of the featured case studies involving civil society organizations.
• Initiatives are most sustainable when they align public good with private interest and are connected to a core business concern.
• Information and communication technology (ICT) is a key enabler for increasing the scale and reducing the cost of jobs and skills initiatives.
• The report emphasizes the importance of tailoring interventions to local culture and socio-economic contexts to achieve sustainable results.
• The 'Develop Employment Skills' category is the most common intervention, represented by 66 of the case studies.
• The report advocates for a proactive, long-term design for skills interventions to avoid investing in job categories that may become obsolete due to technological disruption.

APA

World Economic Forum (2015). Disrupting Unemployment. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_DisruptingUnemployment_Report_2015.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Disrupting Unemployment. 2015. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_DisruptingUnemployment_Report_2015.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Disrupting Unemployment |date=April 2015 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_DisruptingUnemployment_Report_2015.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2015disrupting, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Disrupting Unemployment}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2015}, month = apr, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_DisruptingUnemployment_Report_2015.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }