Pakistan’s job market has started to shrink on the account of economic slowdown, as various sectors have reported layoffs whereas for fresh comers finding jobs can be a tough task in the short to medium term.
“Textile and technology sectors have reported job cuts amid economic slowdown,” according to Fahad Rauf, Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities.
“Some Pakistani exporters have reported cancellation of export orders (by international buyers) in the backdrop global recession fears,” he added.
The rate of employment has shown an improvement while the rate of unemployment has reduced during the past three years (from 2018- 19 to 2020-21).
Meanwhile, the central bank has predicted in its latest monetary policy statement revealed on July 7 that Pakistan’s economy will drop to 3-4% in the financial year that started on July 1 as compared to 6% growth in the last two consecutive fiscal years (FY21 and FY22).
Read more: Unemployment rate in PTI tenure decreased to 6.3%
“The rate of employment has contracted due to slowdown in the economy,” BMA Capital Executive Director Saad Hashemy said about Pakistan’s current job market.
According to the Economic Survey 2021-22, “The labour force increased from 65.5 million in 2017-18 to 71.76 million in 2020-21 and the number of employed people increased from 61.71 million to 67.25 million during the same period.”
“The unemployment rate slightly decreased from 6.9% in 2018-19 to 6.3% in 2020-21. This shows that 4.51 million people from the labor force could not get job in FY2021.”
Being a key contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP), agriculture plays a significant role in development of the economy.
The Labour Force Survey 2020-21 reveals that the share of employment in the agriculture sector declined from 39.2% in 2018-19 to 37.4% in 2020-21.
Moreover, an important share in employment from the agriculture sector has moved to the industry and services sector because of technological transformation.
“Share of employment in the construction sector has increased from 8% in 2018-19 to 9.5% in 2020-21. This increase shows that job opportunities are being created in the country,” said the Economic Survey about Pakistan’s job market.
The Survey 2020-21 further reveals that the overall employment-to-population ratio is 42.1% and this ratio is greater in males (64.1%) when compared to females (19.4%).
Province-wise comparison also displays the same pattern. The employment-to-population ratio in Punjab is 44.2%, followed by Sindh 42.1%, Balochistan 38.6% and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 36%, as per the survey.
