Helping people develop the skills they need to compete for today's jobs can transform lives and strengthen economies. Through New Skills at Work, our five-year $250 million global initiative, we are leveraging our resources, expertise, and global reach to help inform and accelerate efforts to support demand-driven skills training for adults. Additionally, we launched a program to expand skills–based education for young people — New Skills For Youth is a $75 million program to help solve the youth unemployment crisis.

The numbers seem to contradict each other: unemployment is high across the globe, while recent data reveals that employers are having trouble finding workers who are trained for the jobs that are available, particularly in skilled labor and professional positions. And more than 50% of global CEOs are concerned that a key skills gap could limit their growth prospects.footnote 1 What can we do to ensure that people are trained and competitive for the skilled jobs of the 21st century? Read more and find out.