Work on different days of the week is not equally desirable to workers. The same is true for work performed at different times of the day. Undesirable work times are more common among less educated workers, young and quite old workers, minorities, and immigrants. There are substantial cross-country differences in patterns of work timing, with work in lower-income countries distributed more evenly across the week. Policies to affect the timing of work are few, but they do alter outcomes.

Labour market discrimination is widespread and raises ethical, societal, and efficiency concerns. It not only results in the unfair treatment of individuals with comparable skills, but also imposes broader costs on society by eroding trust and weakening cohesion. Moreover, discrimination limits the full potential of the working-age population by excluding talent or trapping people in roles below their abilities. These effects are amplified by feedback loops: fewer opportunities lower labour market participation and productivity, while the harm discrimination inflicts on mental and physical health further reduces economic output.

In the past 25 years, the Chilean labour market has observed a modernisation in terms of its transition to a service economy, but also in terms of its institutional robustness. It has seen a consistent growth in the labour force, driven by women’s entrance in the labour market, and a sustained increase in earnings from salaried work. However, it faces obstacles to drive growth through labour productivity and to ensure that growth translates to better socioeconomic outcomes for workers as a large low-productivity segment persists, also driving informality. These obstacles include lengthy permits, human capital deficits, low R&D investment, as well as slow technological adoption. Solving these issues requires coherent policy making beyond employment and labour policy.

Brain drain refers to the selective emigration of highly educated people, who often have stronger incentives to migrate and face fewer barriers. At first glance, this seems to be an adverse situation: losing doctors, engineers or teachers could hinder development. However, migration can also be beneficial by spurring investment in skills, fueling remittances, fostering innovation, business links, and transfers of knowledge and norms. The net impact depends on the skills involved and the context, creating an opportunity for policies that transform emigration into a driver of development.