NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Elsa Wenzel

If the fossil fuel-centered, “take, make, waste” economies of the last century are truly becoming passé, what shape should a circular workforce take? Natural capital has been front and center in much of the early evangelism around the circular economy, but a focus on human capital is beginning to emerge.

One of the leaders in these discussions is the think tank Circle Economy, which recently issued a vision for what the circular economy can mean in a best-case scenario for people’s labor and livelihoods. The Amsterdam-based social enterprise began several years ago to explore more of the social angle of circularity, knowing that two magic words, “job creation,” tend to turn heads.

Its latest report, “Jobs & Skills in the Circular Economy,” came out in March just as the coronavirus was making its stamp on the western hemisphere. The report originally was planned to kick off a Circular Jobs Initiative with events in Amsterdam, New York City and Brussels. It turns out that this progressive vision for creating circular-economy jobs looks even more urgent and relevant in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic whiplash.

Photo courtesy of Erlend Ekseth.