Ayesha Zainudeen (with contributions from Anah Cassim, Anish Fonseka and Chanduni Bandara)[†] The Asia Pacific region is home to 60% of the world’s population and an estimated 57% of the world’s labor force.  However, there is great heterogeneity across the region between the countries and their labor market contexts, differing in their stages of structural and demographic transformation, as well as their socio-economic compositions, level of formality in their economies, as well as the level of policy capacity. While global, regional and local changes and disruptions to social and economic systems pervade, this heterogeneity affects how their impacts manifest –particularly on the most vulnerable and marginalized groups.   Notwithstanding the vast sub-regional differences, on average the region’s largest employers are the agriculture sector (30% of the workforce in 2021), manufacturing (16%), and wholesale/retail trade (15%).[1] The agriculture sector is often characterized by high levels of informality; low, if not zero wage levels; low productivity; poor working conditions; but it is a significant employer of women across the region.