Decoding Global Reskilling and Career Paths (2021)
This report, carried out by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and The Network - Global talent simplified, addresses the COVID-19 pandemic’s long-term impact on work.
It is based on the survey carried out between October and early December of 2020, in which 208,807 people from 190 countries participated. The 40-question survey elicited workers’ attitudes regarding a variety of topics, including their willingness to work abroad, the countries (other than their own) that they would most like to work in, and the impact of COVID-19 on their work preferences, employment situation, and willingness to learn new skills.
The results show that more than a third of workers globally were laid off or had to accept reduced working time because of business closures or slowdowns stemming from COVID-19. The disruption to professional lives and incomes has many questioning whether the work they’ve done in the past will be the work they do in the future. And the feeling that one should prepare oneself for professional uncertainty isn’t limited to those whose incomes have fallen during the pandemic. According to the report, almost seven in ten people say they are open to switching to completely different job roles.
