More than half of working adults globally fear losing jobs: Survey

The survey, which involved more than 12,000 working adults in 27 countries, showed wide variations of job-loss concern between countries.
By: | October 21, 2020
Topics: Job Cuts | News | Professional Development

More than half of working adults in the world are afraid of losing their jobs in the next 12 months, according to a global survey.

The survey findings, which were released at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) ‘Jobs Reset Summit’ held online on October 21, involved more than 12,000 working adults in 27 countries.

The country with the highest job-loss concern was Russia at 75%, followed by 73% in Spain and 71% in Malaysia. Germany workers feel the most secure about their jobs with 26%, while Sweden recorded 30%, and 36% in the Netherlands and the US.

Despite the fear of losing their jobs, 67% of workers worldwide said they can learn skills needed for the jobs of the future through their current employer. And nearly nine in 10 workers in Spain think they can gain essential new skills on the job, whereas fewer than half in Japan, Sweden and Russia.

Across the 27 countries, perceived ability to learn and develop those skills on the job was found to be the most widespread in Spain (86%), Peru (84%), and Mexico (83%) and the least common in Japan (45%), Sweden (46%), and Russia (48%). India also scored very high at 80%.

WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said, “The current crisis means that the job creation rate has gone significantly down compared to two years ago but there is an optimistic scenario overall compared to the rate of job destruction.”