DISRUPTING UNEMPLOYMENT : RE-ENGINEERING JOB CREATION AND LABOUR SUPPLY-CHAINS

Abstract

The world economy is experiencing unpredictable economic volatility and uncertainty, with possible calamitous social, political and economic consequences. One of the greatest challenges of our times is unemployment. Job creation in the 21st century has been inhibited by the recent global economic meltdown, the unprecedented rise in automation and absence of a framework to reconcile labour demand with labour supply even as skills and nature of jobs undergo fast paced change.The current global scenario of growing unemployment blues poses a tremendous threat to inclusive global economic growth. Political eco-systems have shown inclination towards protectionism in major world economies, propelled by the idea that immigration reduces the number of available jobs. However, in this paper we identify skill gap, lack of industry-academia partnership and absence of life-long learning opportunities as key detriments to employment opportunities in the knowledge economy. We try to elucidate the process of disrupting unemployment in an era marked by constant change and uncertainty for most economies. We suggest re-engineering of job creation methods and restructuring of labour supply chains as two possible solutions to it.