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Youth Voice for the Future of Work

WorldSkills and the OECD have joined forces to better understand the attitudes of young people when it comes to future technologies, their perceptions about how technological change will impact their work opportunities, and whether they feel if they are getting enough support from schools to prepare them for the future.

This survey aims to fill the gap surrounding international comparable data on perceptions on the future work. Through the OECD campaign “I am the future of work” and WorldSkills Conference 2019 in Kazan, the findings are being promoted with stakeholders to feed the debate and positively influence policies on skills and education for a future that works.

Youth Voice for the Future of Work report

  • 19 countries - The respondents to the survey (conducted by ONEPoll) are young people at the end of general education and VET programmes from 19 “G20” countries. In addition, 1,488 samples were collected through WorldSkills Members who supported the research by sharing the survey with their networks: Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States of America.
  • 18 - 24 yrs - The survey covered young people aged 18-24 years old.
  • 15,000 respondents - The primary target sample size was 500-1,000 per country
  • Representation - Respondents come from contrasting socio-economic backgrounds and cultural experiences. The results from online quota-based panel polling were weighted to be representative of each country by age, gender, and whether the respondent had achieved a Bachelor’s degree or higher by the time of the poll. Respondents born outside the country are separated out for future analysis.
  • Job confidence - 50% said they will find the job they really want.
  • Technology optimism - 56% felt technology would create job opportunities, while  63% were excited about the job flexibility that would come with technological change. 
  • School-mediated activities  - 71% said they would welcome more help getting a job while in school.

Download the summary report (PDF, 4.1MB)

If you are interested in the full final report, please contact Grace Lung, Senior Manager of Partnership Programmes, WorldSkills International at grace.lung@worldskills.org

“I am the Future of Work” is a people powered initiative by the OECD, which gathers stories, insights and experiences about the way the world of work is changing, and the risks and opportunities it raises along the way. Our message that “the future of work is now” and that our actions today are shaping tomorrow’s world, places the OECD as a positive contributor to an inclusive transition for a future that works. Workers, students, job seekers, employers and leaders are all the future of work. It is time to be part of the conversation.

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Education and Employers is an independent UK based charity launched in 2009 with the vision of “providing children and young people with the inspiration, motivation, knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to help them achieve their potential”. The research team at the Education and Employers have supported WorldSkills and the OECD in designing a weighting regime for the international database provided by OnePoll, and have undertaken detailed analysis of young people’s view about the future of work and their transition to the modern labour market using quantitative methods.