Times were very different when the Reassessed OECD Job Strategy was launched in 2006. We had just witnessed more than a decade of sustained growth, record low unemployment rates, and relatively robust wage growth. Then the global financial crisis hit, and ten years later, the world has once again changed. While the global economy has been recovering from the financial crisis for several years now, wage growth remains sluggish in most OECD countries. Additionally, productivity growth has fallen from about 2.5% before the crisis to about half this rate over the past five years, and inequalities have reached unprecedentedly high levels: the average disposable income of the richest 10% of the population is now around nine and a half times that of the poorest 10% across the OECD, up from seven times three decades ago. Rapid digital transformation, globalisation and population ageing, are deeply rooted trends changing the very nature of jobs and the functioning of the labour market, thus raising new policy challenges.

The new OECD Jobs Strategy provides guidance to policy makers on policies that enable workers and firms to make the most of emerging challenges and opportunities and ensure that the fruits of growth are broadly shared. The key policy recommendations are organised around three broad principles: i) promote an environment in which high‑quality jobs can flourish; ii) prevent labour market exclusion and protect individuals against labour market risks; iii) prepare for future opportunities and challenges in a rapidly changing labour market. To support countries in building stronger and more inclusive labour markets, the new OECD Jobs Strategy goes beyond general policy recommendations by providing guidance on the implementation of reforms.