Although the global economy is on its knees due to the coronavirus pandemic, the year-long crisis has hit the poor and developing nations much harder than the rich ones. There have been numerous reports of how inequality has risen sharply at a global, regional, national and even sub-national level due to the pandemic-induced economic crisis. There have been many reports about how the pandemic has led to a "new normal" and a new way for businesses to run and for workers to operate — to be based at home and use technology to deliver work that previously could only have been done physically. Thus, videoconferences and the use of software-driven tools are now said to be a standard part of a standard office worker"s life. In such a situation, the youth ought to have emerged winners, as of all the age groups it is the millennials and younger members of the global population that are now more tech-savvy, both in their professional and personal lives. And as the populations of developing nations as a whole are much younger than the older populations in the developed nations, the developing nations should have emerged stronger and cut the gap between the rich ones, however marginally. Paradoxically, however, several studies suggest that the pandemic has hurt young workers and those about to enter the job market much harder than their older peers. In this context, a study by the OECD, a think tank and lobby of the rich, industrial countries, brings more bad news for the developing world. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a triennial study of the world’s education systems carried out by the OECD, assesses 15-year-olds from 79 countries in maths, science and reading. The study finds that none of the developing nations, barring China — if it could still be considered a developing nation — are anywhere near ready for the jobs of the future, which principally require maths and sciences. The latest survey put four Chinese cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as joint leaders of the list. Among the top-performing nations — after China — are Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Estonia and many European nations besides the US and Canada. For the first time, the OECD also assessed global competency to determine the extent to which students in countries were prepared to thrive in an interconnected world where machines, software and humans need to constantly interact with each other through different interfaces. It is dramatic that none of the developing nations made it anywhere in the top 40 of the list, including nations such as India, the Philippines or Vietnam that have a relative prowess in software-related industries and where ITES companies play an important part in the national economy as well as the exports. Worryingly for the developing nations and especially the young and students, reports also say that increased use of AI and machine learning is likely to result in automation of many jobs, from manufacturing and farming to several services industries where developing nations have become suppliers of trained manpower. The World Economic Forum, in its Future of Jobs 2020 report, says that by 2025, about 85 million jobs may be replaced by increasing automation. The report goes on to say the same process is likely to lead to the creation of 97 million new jobs that are better adapted for the economy of the future. These jobs demand extensive knowledge in the domains of data analysis, science, AI and machine learning as well as robotics. For all of these new job roles, students would need a very good foundation in maths, sciences, and several soft skills such as active learning, analytical thinking and problem-solving, as well as resilience. Increased use of AI and machine learning is likely to result in automation of many jobs, from manufacturing and farming to several services industries where developing nations have become suppliers of trained manpower. Ranvir S. Nayar With the youth from developing nations not figuring anywhere in the list of best-trained manpower for the jobs of future, the youth in these nations are likely to fall further behind, not just their counterparts from the developed nations, but even their own compatriots who are already working and established in traditional roles that are likely to diminish over time as industries around the world move toward AI and machine learning. There is another challenge for youth in developing and poor nations, notably the students. Education has moved online since the beginning of the year due to COVID-19. While students in developed countries have generally managed to cope with the dramatic change in learning practices, students from poor nations, especially those from the poorer sections of these societies, have borne the brunt due to a lack of access to the tools needed for online education, namely smartphones and computers at home. In addition, the Internet infrastructure in poor countries suffers from more outages and lower speeds than in the rich countries where the mobile and broadband infrastructure is far superior. An entire generation may have lost a year of studies and this is likely to reflect in their scores and capabilities in all domains, including maths and sciences. Thus the next PISA test, slated for early 2021, may show that the developed nations have pulled further ahead and have left the poorer countries and poorer parts of the middle-income nations further behind. This is a gap that is set to prove harder to reduce for developing nation"s youth than what older generations may have faced. Ranvir S. Nayar is managing editor of Media India Group, a global platform based in Europe and India, which encompasses publishing, communication and consultation services. Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view