Singapore – Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam: Creating enough quality jobs is the key challenge ahead

Both developed and emerging economies face a serious future challenge of generating a large quantity of jobs as well as ensuring that these are of quality, says Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

“If you connect the dots, across the advanced world and for much of the developing world, you have to conclude that the key challenge for the future is jobs; not just the quantity of jobs but the quality of jobs. We are now – if you look globally – in the midst of a jobs crisis, on a scale not seen in decades,” he said at a conference on regional economies yesterday.

“Even in the emerging world, there is a very serious challenge of jobs – both in the quantity of jobs available to satisfy the needs of the young population as well as the quality of jobs that will enable them to keep bettering their lives.”

The ability of countries to do this effectively has serious consequences on their socio-economic well- being, Mr Tharman said.

“Indeed, how well we meet this challenge of providing good-quality jobs will determine if we succeed in the higher objective of achieving inclusive societies, where everyone benefits from growth – because jobs, and the quality of jobs, are the foundation for an inclusive society.”…

via Creating enough quality jobs a huge challenge ahead: Tharman.