8. Decent work and economic growth

SDG 8. Decent work and economic growth

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Targets*

8.1 Sustain per capita economic growth
8.2 Achieve higher levels of economic productivity
8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation
8.4 Improve progressively global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation
8.5 Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men and equal pay for work of equal value
8.6 Substantially reduce youth unemployment
8.7 Eradicate forced labour, modern slavery, child labour and human trafficking
8.8 Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers
8.9 Devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
8.10 Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all

Key insights

• The youth unemployment rate stands at around 28.5% in Brunei, 15.8% in Indonesia, and 10.8% in Malaysia. The other countries in Southeast Asia have less than 7.5% youth unemployment.¹

Business actions**

1. Support decent working conditions for all employees across the business and supply chain, with partnerships to build suppliers’ capacity to do the same
2. Educate and train the labour force, focusing on vulnerable and economically disadvantaged groups
3. Create decent formal-sector jobs in labour-intensive sectors, especially in least developed countries
4. Drive economic growth and productivity by investing in R&D, upgrading skills, and supporting growing businesses, in a way that is compatible with sustainable development

Example

• A French airport operator offers contract employment and full social welfare to 1,300 craftsmen in Cambodia and reinvests profit into developing this business. The operator gains access to artisan craftsmanship while locals benefit from social welfare packages and training programmes.²

Thought Leadership

Reinventing workforce development

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* All targets for SDG 1 to 17 have been derived from the United Nations Statistics Division (2018), from: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/indicators-list/
** All business actions for SDG 1 to 17 have been derived from the United Nations Global Compact (2017), from: https://www.unglobalcompact.org/library/5461
1 World Bank (2018), from: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.1524.ZS
2 Air Transport Action Group (NA), from: https://aviationbenefits.org/case-studies/cambodian-airports-keeping-khmer-culture-alive/