Government and business leaders have been wringing their hands about a looming demographic crisis for quite a while now, but they may only be focusing on one part of the equation. There are two major demographic shifts expected to transform the global workforce over the next five years, according to a new report from The World Economic Forum.
The first is, of course, the aging populations of high-income countries. Around 40% of employers in these countries will be transformed as their populations get older, according to the report. And that’s changing the way that companies think about their workers.
“A lot of companies that do have these concerns around the shrinking labor pool are increasingly prioritizing reskilling and transitioning current workers into new roles in other parts of the business,” Till Leopold, head of Future of Work, Wages and Economic Growth at the World Economic Forum, tells Fortune. “They’re trying to fill those gaps from within, which was not the case before.”
But the second major demographic shift is the expanding working-age population in developing economies. Around 25% of these countries are expected to provide 59% of the global working-age population by 2050. And this group, which includes India, Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan African nations, will also provide nearly two-thirds of new members of the global workforce in the years to come.
Perhaps most interesting of all, both of these trends will lead to job growth. Around 9.1 million net new jobs in the global workforce will be created by the growing working age population in developing countries by 2030, according to the report. And the aging population of higher-income nations is expected to create 3.8 million net additional jobs to the global workforce.
“Demographic shifts are the second largest driver of job growth,” Till Leopold, head of Future of Work, Wages and Economic Growth at the World Economic Forum, tells Fortune. “That is particularly true for the growing working-age population.”
These demographic shifts are also creating a great jobs reshuffling for both groups of countries. Countries with an aging population are expected to see an influx of care jobs, including nursing professionals, social workers, and care aides. Meanwhile, increasing working-age populations in developing countries are fueling growth in education-related professions, such as secondary and higher education teachers.
“Teaching, mentoring, and leadership are all skills that are associated with the growing working age population trend,” says Leopold. “Of course that includes actual teachers in schools. But I think it also includes the current generation of the workforce imparting their knowledge to the younger generations.”
