The global labour market

We live in a world where countries and communities are more closely linked than ever before. When people in Kenya have work and earn money, they may want to buy goods that are made in Sweden. This, in turn, provides work in Sweden, allowing those workers to earn money and buy goods from other countries and so on. So, the work that people do in Kenya has an impact on the work people do in Sweden, and in other countries. A supply of labour in one country often creates a demand for labour elsewhere in the world.

The supply of and demand for labour is called the labour market and it is a very important part of our world’s economy. What if there aren’t many jobs in Kenya but there is a high demand for workers in Sweden? The increasing ease of world travel might cause some Kenyans to go to Sweden and seek work. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people travel to work temporarily in other countries. They become migrant workers.

There are two types of migrant workers. The first is those who need to move for work because there are not enough jobs in their home country. Or maybe because the jobs in other countries pay better. Many send home a part of the salary to their families. These funds are called remittances and they are an important part of the economy of many countries.

The second type of migrant worker wants to go and work in another country, maybe to experience something new and exciting. But sometimes, workers don’t even need to physically be where their company is! More people than ever before have access to the internet, and an increasing amount of work is moving online. This has changed where work can be done, and who can do it. Despite the challenges of time zones and language barriers, there is now global competition for jobs among highly-skilled workers.

And yet, another consequence of more connectivity and new technologies is that millions of jobs across the world are disappearing, and being replaced by machines. Take Carlos, for example. He is a migrant worker. Every summer, he leaves his home country to work on the same farm, picking blueberries. But now, the farm is using a mechanical harvester.

It can harvest large areas in a short time without breaks. What does that mean for Carlos? In the short-term, his blueberry picking job disappears. However, there’s hope that new technologies will eventually create as many jobs as they replace. We'll need more people to design, program, and maintain technology, for example.

But exactly what types of jobs will be created, and whether they will be suitable for the people needing work is yet to be seen. There are about three billion people working and participating in the global labor market today. As the world’s population grows, more and more people enter the labour market every year. It’s likely that within the next ten years, more than six hundred million new jobs are needed to accommodate everyone. Ensuring that all workers have access to safe, fair-paying jobs will continue to be a challenge for governments and industries.