At a glance:
Sur Futuro in 2024

We believe quality employment is key to achieving inclusive and sustainable development across Latin America and the Caribbean.This year, we've delved deep into research, synthesized critical knowledge, and engaged in action-oriented spaces to address the evolving challenges of the world of work.

Scroll down to check out our journey.

A future (of work) in the making

What will jobs in Latin America look like 10 or 15 years from now? How many of those future aspects are we shaping today through our actions? 

2024, as recent years, has been shaped by significant transformations impacting the course of labor markets. 

Emerging trends, such as Generative Artificial Intelligence, are advancing rapidly compared to past innovations, driving the redefinition of roles and skill sets across multiple sectors and emphasizing the critical need for adaptability and the development of new capacities. 

The effects of climate change have consistently underscored the urgency of transitioning to more sustainable economies—by transforming productive sectors, driving the creation of green jobs, and addressing the specific challenges of regions vulnerable to climate shocks. 

At the same time, a crucial demographic shift is beginning to take shape in the region: after years of decline, the dependency ratio is set to rise, driving a growing demand for care services, particularly for older adults. 

Moreover, these challenges do not arise in isolation but are part of a broader context. In Latin America and the Caribbean, these emerging trends intersect with longstanding issues such as widespread informality, low productivity, dual economies, and deep structural inequalities. 

This time of transformation also opens a window of opportunity to build more inclusive and sustainable labor markets where more people can access high quality jobs. A key question arises: how many of these near-future traits are we shaping today with our actions? Given how present trends are reshaping the future, we can be confident that, most likely, all of them. 

Studying emerging trends, systematizing lessons learned, and translating knowledge into action are key actions reinforcing our commitment to our core pillars: research, collective intelligence, and advocacy. 

Periods of transformation often raise more questions than answers. Yet, as we step into 2025, we are confident there is room to take meaningful action and shape better futures. 

Join us in exploring our journey through 2024.

2024 Highlights


  • ATLAS of future-oriented jobs. What and where are they? The case of Latin America and the Caribbean

    Only 16% of people in Latin America and the Caribbean hold future-oriented jobs.  

    In a world undergoing profound technological, climate, and demographic changes, we examine the resilience of jobs in the region and identify sectors gaining prominence and offering new opportunities in the face of constant transformation. To do so, we map out growing job segments – including STEM, green, and care-related jobs – as well as those threatened by trends like automation and climate change. This framework allows us to explore how opportunities and challenges are distributed across countries and between men and women. 

    Explore the document and interactive map here

  • With the support from IDRC and the FutureWORKS Collective, we are funding five research projects on the future of work, addressing key topics like AI, climate change, green transition, and the care economy.

    The studies will explore gender roles in the care sector in the Northern Triangle, the impact of language model-based chatbots on the labor market, the adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies in the Andean region, platform work dynamics, and the mismatch between required and available skills in sectors such as green jobs, science, technology, and care work. 

  • We launched Future-proofing work, a three-stage framework designed to map emerging trends, identify resilient jobs, and develop systemic strategies that support the creation of future-proof employment.

    The framework focuses on designing public policy strategies that are both employment-centered— that is, promoting quality job creation in key sectors—and systemic– meaning they simultaneously address the multiple dimensions required to achieve a goal. The primary objective is to support policy in fostering more and better jobs in strategic areas such as STEM, digital platforms, the green economy, and the care economy. 

  • We hosted a collective intelligence exercise with experts from Latin America and the Caribbean to explore learnings about platform-based work through recent research. This workshop marked the beginning of a collaborative effort that will continue over the coming months. Specialists shared valuable insights, perspectives, and challenges faced by Latin American platform workers.  

    Building on the contributions and literature recommendations shared during the workshop, we will develop a scoping document to synthesize key learnings and inform related policymaking processes. 


  • We participated in the launch of FutureWORKS Collective, a global initiative that unites regional centers from the Global South to generate research and policy recommendations to foster decent work.

    The project seeks to address the challenges and opportunities of labor markets in developing countries through a research and impact-driven agenda. Its mission is to implement innovative, gender-responsive approaches to advance a more inclusive and sustainable future of work across the Global South. 

  • We joined think tanks from G20 member countries at the T20 Brazil. We contributed to Working Group 5 Inclusive Digital Transformation, providing recommendations on digital innovations to advance the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. By participating in high-level policy debating forums like the G20, we help shape the global narratives on the future of work, offering a perspective centered on high-quality and equitable, future-oriented employment with a Latin American focus.  

  • At the Startup20 meetings in Rio de Janeiro, we took part in an event organized by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) to generate ideas on how to create pathways for inclusive digital transformation.









  • We participated in the annual meeting of the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP) to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming global labor markets and shaping the future of developing countries. The event provided a valuable platform to examine the role of AI in expanding or mitigating existing inequalities, both within and between countries.  




  • We explored how TVET systems work and what they need during the Second Interregional Dialogue on Education and Development, organized by Obreal, the African Union, and Brazil's Ministry of Education. 

    We emphasized three key challenges: creating spaces for peers to share what works (and what doesn’t), setting up systems to understand enrollment and performance trends, and building a shared vision that connects public and private efforts while considering broader factors shaping job transitions, like infrastructure and regulations. 

  • We participated in the discussions at the G20 Social Summit in Brazil, where the central role of decent work was highlighted as essential for tackling poverty and inequality. 

    As part of the Summit, we took part in the side event “Building Caring Societies Across the G20 and Beyond.” The discussion explored the crucial role of care workers amid global changes, stressing emerging opportunities, but also risks of deepening existing inequalities.