World Bank Group Strengthens Procurement Requirements to Support Job Creation, Skills Development

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2025—The World Bank is strengthening its procurement requirements to help address the jobs challenge in developing countries by requiring companies working on World Bank-funded projects to include local labor participation in civil works contracts.

Under the updated rules, companies bidding on international civil works contracts—such as the construction and maintenance of transportation and energy infrastructure—must ensure that 30% of labor cost is local. The goal is to boost domestic job creation and skills development. These changes apply to civil works contracts subject to competitive international procurement, starting September 1, 2025.

Employing local labor contributes to income generation within communities, allowing people to better support their families, build knowledge and skills, and reinvest in the local economy. Public infrastructure projects can be an especially powerful instrument for job creation. With 1.2 billion young people projected to enter the workforce in emerging economies over the next decade, this enhanced focus on job generation through the procurement process will help deepen the impact of the World Bank’s financing.

“This new requirement underpins our commitment to job creation,” said Gallina A. Vincelette, Vice President for Operations Policy and Country Services at the World Bank. “By prioritizing the use of local labor in World Bank-funded projects, we not only create immediate employment opportunities for people in our client countries but also invest in the long-term potential of local communities. This approach helps build a skilled and better-equipped workforce and strengthens local economies.”

This update to the World Bank’s procurement framework builds on measures introduced in March 2025 that were designed to deliver better outcomes in the procurement process by attracting highly qualified bidders and innovative solutions in Bank-financed investment projects. They include a stronger focus on quality in bid evaluation, ensuring that life-cycle costs, innovation, sustainability and other quality attributes, including local job creation, are given adequate weight in the evaluation of high-value contracts.

Contact:

In Washington: Uwimana Basaninyenzi, +1 202 744 3489, ubasaninyenzi@worldbankgroup.org

Website: www.worldbank.org/procurement

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