Future of Jobs in the Western Balkans

The World Economic Forum's (WEF) Future of Jobs Report 2023 for the first time features the Western Balkan region.

This bi-annual report examines the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the labor market. The report identifies potential occupational disruption and growth and offers strategies for empowering job transitions.

In the 2023 edition, the report broadens its scope beyond technological change to consider and address the impact of multiple concurrent trends on the labor market.

It aims to help workers, businesses, governments, educators, and civil society prepare for the future challenges.

It covers the expectations of a wide cross-section of the world's largest employers related to job trends and directions for the 2023-2027 period.

The report is based on a unique survey-based dataset, covering the expectations of 803 companies across 27 industry clusters and 45 economies from all world regions.

The report also includes data collaborations with Coursera, Indeed, and LinkedIn, which complemented the survey findings with a range of unique and innovative data-driven insights.

What is the future of jobs?

The Report identifies four interlinked trends.

Technological Breakthroughs and Environmental and Geopolitical Disruptions

The report identifies that labor-market transformations driven by technological breakthroughs are being compounded by economic and geopolitical disruptions and growing social and environmental pressures.

The coming of age of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the key technological breakthroughs. AI is expected to have a significant impact on the labor market in the coming years.

Multiple Concurrent Trends

The report recognizes that the labor market impact of technological change cannot be viewed in isolation from other concurrent trends.

These include the green and energy transitions, macroeconomic factors, and geo-economic and supply-chain shifts.

The report emphasizes the need for a holistic approach to addressing these challenges.

Preparation for Future Disruptions

The report emphasizes the need for an ambitious multistakeholder agenda to better prepare workers, businesses, governments, educators, and civil society for the disruptions and opportunities to come, and empower them to navigate these social, environmental, and technological transitions.

The time is ripe for business leaders and policymakers to decisively shape these transformations and ensure that future investments translate into better jobs and opportunities for all.