Jobs in Health, Education Critical to Fight Economic Crisis: WEF

The World Economic Forum (WEF) highlighted the importance of “Social Investing” for the creation of jobs in the education and healthcare systems, which are necessary for a post-COVID 19 recovery and social mobility. Investing US$1.3 billion by 2030 would mean US$3.1 billion in GDP and over 10 million new job openings in the social sector.

The “Tomorrow’s Jobs: The Triple Bottom Line of Social Jobs in Economic Recovery” report points out that there is a global deficiency of jobs in these sectors, a situation worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated that by 2030 the world’s population will reach 8.5 billion people so the needs for the basic services will grow exponentially. The jobs in education and healthcare services account for 23 percent of the actual labor force, according to WEF.

Regarding this, the WEF report focuses on various social areas to attend to the needs of the population, including education, health, medical services, welfare, social work, personal care and care services. The US, for example, would see a 2.3 multiplier effect for every dollar invested in these areas. Therefore, a US$1.3 billion invested by 2030 would produce US$3.1 billion in benefits and over 10 million new job openings in the social sector. 

 Social Investments focus on improving healthcare, providing childcare for all and improving education. The investment would target four main goals:

·      Meet the 2030 forecasted unmet demand for healthcare and long-term care

·      Increase childcare spend to reach best practice (per child) spending through 2030

·      Increase spending to meet the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) student-to-teacher ratio

·      Accelerate investments in Future of Work Technologies in the social sectors

These investments also aim to support the automation and augmentation of tasks that would boost productivity, increase GDP growth and tighter labor markets. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the investment in technology took critical importance for the survival of most businesses. Some estimates state that over US$60 billion have been invested in this sector since 2020 but this is not the same as investing in “actual persons,” clarifies the WEF. Worldwide, healthcare workers are essential but due to a lack of proper infrastructure and investment in this sector, by 2030 there will be a US$176 million financial gap according to the WEF report.  

 Mexico has a large gap of medical specialists and needs 154,786 doctors to reach OECD’s recommendation of 3.2 specialists for every 1,000 citizens, as reported by MBN. While some strategies are being implemented to solve this problem, the country is far from reaching a solution. Mexico needs 154,786 medical specialists, according to Jorge Alcocer Varela, Minister of Health. 

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had previously announced an alliance to recruit 500 Cuban doctors. When announced, the decision was highly controversial. For example, Andrés Castañeda, Coordinator, Nosotrxs´ Health and Wellness Cause, said that doctor availability is not a problem when staffing rural medical facilities; the main obstacle is the insecurity that these rural zones face daily. “These places must be safe and have the necessary supplies, infrastructure and equipment to be able to address any kind of situation,” said Castañeda.