An economy that works: Job creation and America's future

The United States faces a daunting challenge. At current rates of job creation, it will take until sometime in 2016 simply to get back to the level of employment before the recession. To actually regain full employment – finding work for the currently unemployed and accommodate 15 million entrants into the labor force this decade – the US economy will need to create 21 million jobs by 2020. Only under an optimistic scenario of job growth can this occur, according to this new report by the McKinsey Global Institute. It sheds new light on how companies use labor, where new jobs are likely to come from, and what conditions are needed to ensure robust and sustainable job creation. In addition to original research and scenario analysis, the report draws on interviews with human resources executives of major corporations and a survey of 2,000 business leaders.