Since 1997, the key trend in work has been the widening gap between good jobs and bad jobs. CONFINTEA took place in the middle of an international boom in high-tech development, with attendant optimism around creation of a "knowledge economy". While the subsequent crash of this sector is no doubt temporary, it draws attention to the volatility of the economic environment in which discussion of learning and work takes place. Both within member states and in the global south, the proportion of stable, healthy and well-paying jobs has been shrinking. A majority of workers on a global scale are now engaged in "non-standard" situations, whether in subsistence, the informal sector, migrant work, temporary, contract, or part-time contingent work. This article discusses the creative responses to this polarisation of income and knowledge and the need for fresh thinking to address this widening gap.