Research and Innovation Careers Observatory 2026

• October 2, 2026
• admin

The OECD’s Research and Innovation Careers Observatory 2026 examines how countries are developing, employing and retaining talent for research and innovation (R&I), drawing on evidence covering more than 50 countries. It finds that opportunities for highly skilled R&I workers have expanded: R&D personnel accounted for almost 1.6% of employment across OECD countries in 2024, while more than 300,000 doctoral and 3.9 million master’s degrees were awarded in 2023. However, future supply is not guaranteed, with declining doctoral graduate numbers in some countries, ageing talent pools and continuing gaps between the skills being developed and changing labour-market needs.

The report highlights particularly strong growth in demand for STEM professionals, especially ICT, science and engineering workers, while the share of advanced graduates in STEM fields has remained broadly stable. It stresses that R&I careers depend not only on formal qualifications but also on technical, disciplinary and transversal skills, including research, communication, leadership, management and professional competencies. These can be developed through education, professional experience and employer training, and the ability to update and demonstrate skills is becoming increasingly important as technologies and labour markets change. AI is also reshaping R&I careers by changing tasks and creating new roles that existing occupational classifications may not capture adequately.

International mobility is another important source of R&I talent, with internationally mobile graduates accounting for 19% of master’s and 29% of doctoral graduates in 2023, although patterns vary substantially between countries and groups. Against this background, ReICO aims to provide a more complete evidence base by combining international and national statistics with surveys, administrative records, job postings and other data sources to track talent development, labour-market outcomes, mobility and career trajectories. The report argues that better data are needed to understand not just how many R&I workers countries have, but also their capabilities, working conditions, career paths and movement across sectors and borders.