For many young people today, the future of work does not feel distant. It feels uncertain, immediate, and deeply personal.

The World Bank Group Youth Summit 2026, built around the theme “Future Works: Designing Jobs for the Digital Age,” comes at a moment when questions about jobs, skills, and livelihoods are shaping everyday decisions. What kind of work will exist? Who will benefit from it? And how can young people influence what comes next?


What makes this year’s theme particularly relevant is its shift in perspective. It does not frame young people simply as participants preparing for the future, but as contributors who can help shape it. The idea of “designing jobs” suggests that the future of work is not fixed. It is something that can be influenced through ideas, innovation, and collective action.

Across the world, young people are already navigating rapid changes driven by technology, artificial intelligence, and new economic models. For some, this opens up new possibilities. For others, it creates instability and raises concerns about access, fairness, and long-term security. This dual reality makes it even more important for young voices to be part of conversations that define the direction of change.

The Youth Summit offers a space where these conversations can take place across geographies and sectors. It brings together young innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and institutions to exchange ideas on how work is evolving and what needs to change. For many participants, it is not just about learning, but about connecting, questioning, and contributing.

What stands out is the opportunity it creates. Platforms like this allow young people to engage with global discussions that often feel distant or inaccessible. They provide visibility to ideas that might otherwise remain local. They also create pathways to collaborate with others who are facing similar challenges in different contexts.

At the same time, the value of engaging with the Summit goes beyond the event itself. Following these conversations, understanding emerging trends, and reflecting on how they connect to one’s own journey can shape how young people think about their role in a changing world.

The theme of Future Works invites a deeper question: if work is being redesigned, what values should guide that process? Should it prioritise efficiency alone, or also dignity and inclusion? Should it widen opportunities, or risk reinforcing existing inequalities?

These are not questions that can be answered by institutions alone. They require perspectives grounded in lived experience. They require young people who are not only adapting to change, but also asking what kind of future they want to build.

In that sense, the Summit is more than a convening. It is a reminder that the future of work is still being shaped, and that there is space, and need, for young people to be part of that process.