Highlights:

• New World Bank Group guidebook presents evidence-based strategies for designing effective labor programs, especially in low- and middle-income countries facing job creation challenges.
• The most effective labor programs in low- and middle-income countries deliver earnings and employment improvements four to five times greater than the average, at times providing up to ten years lasting benefits, and returns far exceeding the initial investments.
• Five core principles—contextual tailoring, comprehensive scope, incentive alignment, private sector engagement, and social protection integration—are key to creating lasting, inclusive impacts in the labor market.

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For years, governments around the world have spent significant time and resources on programs to help people find jobs, meet their aspirations, and contribute to the economy. For years too, many of these programs have fallen short. Still, some of these initiatives have truly succeeded.

Which of those programs have had the most impact and what has set them apart?

In an effort to answer those crucial questions, the World Bank Group, in partnership with the Global Labor Market Conference, has just released What Works for Work: A Guidebook to Proven and Promising Employment Solutions. This guidebook takes a close look at the top performing labor programs around the world to distill lessons and provide policymakers with a practical tool for diagnosing challenges and selecting interventions that work for work.

These high-impact solutions can become particularly useful as governments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face growing pressure to create jobs amid shrinking resources and slow economic growth. Each year, millions of young people in developing countries are reaching working age but are not able to land a formal jobs, which confines many to precarious, low-productivity employment or leaves them excluded from the labor market altogether. 

Employment solutions—like active labor market programs (ALMPs), regulatory reforms, or alignment of social programs—are effective tools to tackle growing labor challenges in the near-term, while longer-term structural reforms are being implemented. ALMPs encompass a broad spectrum of interventions, such as wage subsidies, entrepreneurship support, job counseling, public works, and work-based or classroom training. Regulatory reforms–including the overhaul of labor and tax laws, consolidating social programs, or building capacity within implementing agencies– play a complementary role by improving the overall functioning of labor markets. When tailored to local conditions, these initiatives create pathways to better jobs and provide businesses with the skilled talent they need, while serving as a bridge to longer-term structural reforms in education, business regulations, infrastructure, and financial systems.

The best designed and executed programs have been found to make tremendous difference. They can deliver earnings or employment improvements that are four to five times greater than typical interventions. Notably, the strongest impacts are observed in low- and middle-income countries, demonstrating that high levels of spending are not a prerequisite for success. Programs targeting youth, women, and vulnerable groups tend to perform better, and some can have lasting benefits for various years after completion.

Top-performing employment programs can deliver game-changing impacts:

Source: Authors’ elaboration using data from Yeyati et al. (2025).
Note: Includes only programs in low- and middle-income countries.

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A framework for designing impactful interventions:

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Central to the success of these interventions are five design principles:

• contextual tailoring
• comprehensive scope
• incentive alignment
• private sector engagement
• integration with social protection

By following these principles and grounding programs in evidence, governments can transform employment solutions into strategic investments that foster more inclusive and resilient labor markets.

This guidebook serves as an operational resource, offering concrete examples, a catalogue of adaptable programs, and a step-by-step guide to help policymakers craft interventions that deliver meaningful and lasting results. It synthesizes lessons learned regarding their design, implementation, and contextual adaptation and finds that well-designed, contextually tailored interventions can achieve employment and earnings gains several times greater than typical programs.

Step-by-Step Guide: From diagnosis to scaled employment solutions:Source: World Bank.

Launched at the Global Labor Market Conference 2026 in Riyadh, this guidebook seeks to advance evidence-based policy dialogues needed to navigate a changing labor market worldwide.

Country and region employment program case studies:

The following is a sample of some of the best labor market programs in the guidebook:

• The Australia Pacific Training Coalition operates five training centers across the Pacific, offering Australian-accredited certificate and diploma programs in key sectors. It has produced over 20,000 graduates that have helped fill Australia and New Zealand’s labor shortages, through Global Skill Partnerships.
• Colombia’s Jóvenes en Acción Program provides three months of classroom training and three months of unpaid internships, plus a small stipend. Training institutions are paid based on student internship completion and hiring outcomes. The program raised formal employment by four percentage points, even three to nine years after the intervention.
• Kenya’s Youth Employment and Opportunities Project, which provides grants and training to start or grow a microbusiness, increased annual earnings per beneficiary by US$387, achieving an Internal Economic Rate of Return of 100 percent, recovering costs in 10 months.
• Skilling Up Lebanon generated a 67% increase in employment and a 94% increase in earnings among participants in the programs which aims to increase access to market-relevant digital skills for youth by identifying digital skills most in demand by employers and expanding access to these skills through training and experience.
• Nepal’s Employment Fund Program has increased earnings growth by 72% through short, market-oriented vocational training and outcome-based partnerships with training providers.
• Nigeria’s Community Based Skills Training Program, in conflict-affected northern Nigeria, increased employment of participants by 35–39%, profits by 38% and wage income by 54%, through classroom-based vocational training.
• Türkiye’s Formal Employment Creation Project helped create nearly 10,000 formal jobs for citizens and refugees, through grants to firms in provinces with a high concentration of Syrians under Temporary Protection.

“Credit: World Bank Group. All rights reserved”