Labor markets in Latin America and the Caribbean are changing fast. The spread of artificial intelligence (AI), the shift toward greener economies, and sociodemographic change are transforming production and work across the region. These trends can open new pathways to development by driving productivity and job creation, but also generate risks that fall disproportionately on those facing greater vulnerabilities: nearly 70% of employment in the region is exposed to the adverse effects of climate change or technological disruption, with unequal effects on women, youth, and informal workers.

In response to these challenges, Sur Futuro works to broaden access to resilient employment across the region, combining research, technical cooperation, and collective action to contribute evidence and informed dialogue to the decisions shaping labor markets. As regional leads of IDRC's global FutureWORKS initiative, in 2024 we launched a first research cycle aimed at expanding and contextualizing the evidence base on the future of work in Latin America and the Caribbean. This process deepened diagnostics, analytical frameworks, and recommendations on platform work, the care economy, green jobs, skills demand, and the impact of generative AI on labor markets.

This new call for proposals builds on the learnings of the first cycle and advances a complementary objective: strengthening bridges between available knowledge and its uptake by key actors. Within this framework, three types of initiatives will be funded: technical cooperation projects in partnership with public institutions, generative AI training programs for workers in disadvantaged situations, and mobilization actions and resources to equip specific groups for the transformations reshaping the world of work.