Business Community Highlights Investments in Human Capital and Workforce Key to Growth: 2026 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting Side Event

On 2 June in the margins of the 2026 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting ahead of the launch of the OECD’s flagship Economic Outlook, Business at OECD held a dedicated side event on “Getting Industrial Policy Right: Insights from our Economic Policy Survey”, a business survey conducted biannually among leading national business and employer organisations in the OECD’s member countries. This edition found that business sentiment has further consolidated around a low growth environment, marked by persistent uncertainty, renewed inflationary pressures, and growing concern over global policy fragmentation, most notably in industrial policy. At the session, our Economic Policy Committee Vice-Chair and the Confederation of Finnish Industries’ Sami Pakarinen highlighted key findings from the survey, including that geopolitical pressures, high energy prices and a widening reform gap are key growth constraints. To address these challenges, our members identified investments in human capital and workforce development as the most effective lever for growth, with 70% prioritising education and skills development.

In an exchange of views, Business at OECD’s Executive Board Members reflected on the key constraints and risks to growth highlighted by members’ responses to the survey. A key takeaway is that businesses expect trade barriers and global distortions to weigh on economic performance in the medium- to long-term. Our Executive Board Members also discussed the survey’s special chapter on industrial policies, reflecting on the need for industrial policy to support and not distort competition and strengthen the economy’s fundamentals. Overall, businesses see a strong role for the OECD in addressing these challenges, underlining the OECD’s importance in providing evidence-based analysis, policy discipline and a platform for international coordination. Priority areas for action include advancing structural reforms to boost productivity (81%), maintaining open trade frameworks (79%), and strengthening education and skills systems (70%), alongside growing expectations for OECD engagement on innovation, digital governance and industrial policy in an increasingly fragmented global economy.