Circle Economy, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization, World Bank and the Partnership for Action on Green Economy, released Employment in the Circular Economy: Leveraging Circularity to Create Decent Work (November 2026). The report provides the first global baseline for measuring how many people work in circular economy activities and under what conditions, covering 177 of 187 ILO Member States.
Human Level’s Take:
- Circular jobs are booming: up to 158 million people work in circular and renewable energy roles, with the majority of these in fully circular sectors like repair, recycling, second-hand trade, waste management and urban transit. Circular employment shares range from 6.4% in the Americas to 4.9% in the Arab States, with Asia and the Pacific hosting the largest number of circular economy workers overall.
- Informality persists, however. About 52% of circular economy workers are informal, especially in lower-income regions and in sectors like repair and transit. Women are also likely to be overrepresented in informal circular economy roles, despite making up only 26% of total circular economy workers. Informal work can pose higher human rights risks, making formalisation in the circular economy essential for safer, more productive jobs.
- Companies have an essential role to play in advancing decent work in the circular economy. Above all, they are expected to respect human rights in circular economy jobs, including those in the value chain. This includes support for enabling rights like freedom of association and collective bargaining, as well as the prevention of issues like forced labour, child labour, discrimination and unsafe working conditions.
- Strengthening occupational health and safety in circular economy jobs is also essential. Companies can set tailored policies and management systems, continually updating them as circular economy roles quickly evolve. This also requires ensuring strong oversight of working conditions in the circular economy supply chain, as well as training and support for suppliers.
- In addition, companies can work to increase the share of decent jobs in the circular economy by collaborating with workers’ organisations to expand inclusive skills development, reskill existing workers and integrate circular-economy competencies into professional pathways.
- You can also check out the ILO’s newly released policy guidelines for the promotion of decent work in recycling, which outline basic standards for safe, fair and decent jobs in the recycling sector.
Some key takeaways:
- Circular economy jobs are the future of work: Circular economy roles are key drivers of sustainable development and reflect the evolving nature of work as the world responds to the global climate and nature crises. The report estimates that between 121-142 million people globally are employed in the circular economy, representing 5-5.8% of all global employment (note that this figure excludes agriculture due to a lack of an agreed-upon framework or classification for these activities). The majority of circular economy employment (around 121 million people) is in fully circular sectors like repair, recycling, second-hand trade, waste management and urban transit, with a smaller proportion (around 21 million people) working in partially circular sectors such as mining, manufacturing and construction. In addition, the ILO and the International Renewable Energy Agency have separately determined that around 16.2 million people work in the renewable energy sector. In total, this means that as many as 157.7 million people work in circular economy and renewable energy roles. The report also underscores that there is a large number of people working in informal roles within the circular economy, around 52% of circular economy workers. Although this rate is lower than the economy-wide informality rate, it is likely an underestimate due to the difficulty of tracking informal employment. Informal work tends to be concentrated in lower-income economies and in the repair and urban transit sectors. Asia and the Pacific have the largest number of informal circular economy workers (50 million), followed by Africa (10.3 million) and the Americas (9.7 million in total, although rates differ significantly between high and lower-middle-income economies in this region). Formalisation is an important path to higher productivity and better working conditions, making this a key area of focus as the circular economy sector continues to grow.
- Regional and gender gaps: Rates of circular economy employment differ by region, with the largest proportion in the Americas and the smallest proportion in the Arab States. Asia and the Pacific hosts the largest number of circular economy workers (77.6 million or 5.8% of total regional employment), followed by the Americas (27.5 million or 6.4% of total regional employment), Europe and Central Asia (20.8 million or 5.4% of total regional employment), Africa (12.9 million or 5.6% of total regional employment), and the Arab States (2.7 million or 4.9% of total regional employment). In terms of income group, lower-middle-income countries have the highest rates of circular economy employment (6.4%), followed by high-income (5.9%), upper-middle-income (5.5%) and low-income countries (5%). However, the lower figures in low-income countries may reflect the underreporting of workers in informal jobs and those holding multiple jobs. When it comes to gender, far fewer women work in the circular economy than men. Women reflect 26% of circular economy workers, with the highest proportion in upper-middle-income countries (32.1%). Women tend to be clustered in manufacturing, second-hand retail, repair, and services like libraries and archives, with few working in sectors like construction and urban transit. The report’s authors suggest that the numbers could be undercounted, reflecting the overrepresentation of women in the informal economy. This means that women could benefit substantially from rights-based approaches and gender-responsive policies that aim to increase decent work and equal participation in the circular economy.
- The role of the private sector: While government policy and initiatives will need to play a key role in creating enabling conditions for decent work in the circular economy sector, the report highlights a number of areas where the private sector can contribute. Respect for human rights is critical as a foundation to ensure decent work in the circular economy. In particular, supporting workers to fulfil rights like freedom of association and collective bargaining can help create the enabling environment for decent work. It’s also essential to address other key human rights risks that can emerge in the circular economy like forced labour, child labour and discrimination. In addition, the private sector can play a role by ensuring strong occupational health and safety in circular economy jobs, especially for workers who experience precarious work or hazardous conditions. Companies will need to tailor their existing health and safety policies and management systems to circular processes, continuously updating these to address emerging risks. This will need to be combined with strong oversight as well as training and support for supply chain actors to implement these measures. Another key area for the private sector is working alongside workers’ organisations to invest in skills development that helps workers adapt to technological, regulatory and market changes. In more advanced sectors, this entails reskilling existing workers and embedding circular-economy skills into vocational and professional pathways. All initiatives should be accessible to women, youth and informal-economy workers, and tailored to the needs and risks faced across diverse value-chain contexts.
