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One of the main concerns of Latin Americans today is the lack of adequate employment opportunities. This concern is based on the widespread perception that not enough employment is being generated, and that few individuals have access to well-remunerated jobs. This work asks whether there is a supply-side story to be told about these outcomes. The authors present stylised facts about the connection between the demographic transition and changes in education (the size and quality of the labour force), with labour supply, inequality and employment. The main conclusion is that demographics and education significantly improve understanding of the overall decline in employment, the changing pattern of employment, and the rise in wage inequality. By adding them to the demand and institutional factors behind these outcomes, the authors obtain a clearer picture about labour markets in Latin America. Although demographics and education move slowly through time and have a strong inertial component, there is still scope for policies that move these variables in a direction that produces better labour market outcomes.