The World Bank has called on governments to overhaul public works programmes, warning that short-term jobs alone are no longer enough to tackle unemployment and widening skills gaps across developing economies.
In a new report titled Innovations in Public Works: Rethinking Public Works for Jobs and Skills in a Changing World, the lender said many existing schemes focus on temporary, low-skilled infrastructure work that offers limited long-term economic value or clear pathways into stable employment.
Public works programmes are commonly used in low- and middle-income countries as social protection tools, providing income support for vulnerable people during periods of hardship. However, the World Bank said these programmes must evolve to match labour markets that are increasingly shaped by digital technology, demographic changes and climate risks.
“A changing world calls for rethinking how public works can better support jobs and skills,” the bank said in the report.
It noted that population growth, rapid technological change and rising climate-related threats are transforming how people work and what skills employers need. According to the bank, public works should move beyond short-term relief and be structured to help participants gain skills that are relevant to expanding sectors of the economy.
The report identified a new generation of public works programmes built around three key areas: care services, digital work and green jobs.
Under care-focused public works, participants provide services such as childcare, elder care and home-based support instead of traditional construction activities. The World Bank cited examples from Burkina Faso and Rwanda, where childcare services linked to public works programmes have allowed more women to take up paid work while developing caregiving skills. In South Africa, similar initiatives support vulnerable groups, including the elderly and people living with HIV/AIDS, while creating paid care roles for participants.
The bank also highlighted the growing importance of digital public works. In these programmes, participants help create digital public assets such as maps, datasets and digitised records. In Kenya, young people have used smartphones to map buildings and collect data to support urban planning. In Mali and Tanzania, participants traced infrastructure using satellite images, while in Sierra Leone, youths in flood-prone communities are digitising information on flood risks to aid disaster response.
According to the report, these digital programmes help participants build practical digital skills and are especially accessible to women and young people because many tasks can be completed remotely.
Green public works represent the third pillar of the proposed shift, combining job creation with environmental protection and climate resilience. The World Bank pointed to land restoration and water management projects in India, coastal protection efforts in Fiji and flood-control initiatives in Malawi. It said such programmes support communities in adapting to climate change while providing steady income and skills linked to agriculture, conservation and environmental management.
The bank said these examples show that public works can be more adaptive, inclusive and cost-effective when they are well designed. By prioritising skills development and long-term employability, the programmes can better support women, youth and people living in fragile or conflict-affected areas, while also advancing wider policy goals such as climate resilience, digital transformation and human capital development.
The report was authored by Christian Bodewig, Practice Manager for Social Protection and Labour Global Engagement at the World Bank; Michael Weber, Senior Economist at the Human Capital Project; Marko Bucik, a consultant in social protection and labour; and Aditi Lal, a consultant with the Human Capital Project.
The World Bank said countries that invest in forward-looking public works programmes could unlock greater value from public spending, protect vulnerable people in the short term and better prepare workers for the jobs of the future.
