Several different trends, both unfavorable and promising, shape the future of jobs and skills. UNDP sustains efforts for responding to global trends, most emphasis being on the recovery of jobs from Covid-19 and on adaptation to accelerated change stemming from digitalization and green transition. In Europe and Central Asia, these novel uncertainties overlap with ongoing macro trends. While out-migration, brain drain, low birth rates, youth unemployment, and informal economy are leading contemporary issues in Eastern Europe, Central Asia countries remain over-reliant on extracted commodities (i.e. fossil fuels and minerals) and the repercussions of anthropogenic climate change.

Our work on jobs and livelihoods respond to these regional and sub-regional, as well as macro trends by interventions for structural transformations with a people-centered approach, so as to assure that local communities adapt to change, and no one is left behind. While we encourage digital, green, and just transitions in economies, we heed to their effects on societies. That is why we:

• Prioritize job creation and sustainable livelihoods, support people through the creation of green jobs and future-proof skills;
• Upskill existing labor force for adaptation to the changing labor market as a result of structural transformations (i.e., green transition);
• Assess informal economies for a deeper understanding of their root causes and the barriers to formal jobs;
• Encourage vulnerable groups for innovation and entrepreneurship through mentorship and funds, thus surmount barriers for formal jobs.