Labour market woes
5 December 2022
Pakistan’s labour market is showing its inability to continue labour absorption, as it has in the past. The generation of additional work opportunities should be commensurate with labour supply. However, this supply has been increasing by over 3 percent annually, and has emerged as the most formidable challenge since the nineties.
The labour market is presently confronted with the twin menace of unemployment and underemployment. Although the rate of unemployment has not assumed serious proportions, the worrying aspect of this 5 percent unemployment figure is its concentration amongst the youth, the educated and trained.
This under-utilisation of manpower is manifested in the form of underemployment. More than a tenth of the employed find their work unable to keep them busy, 35 hours a week. Further, a quarter of those employed, find their income only meeting half of the subsistence requirements. A similar proportion find their income barely meeting subsistence requirements. Thus, lesser productive and lower remunerative work opportunities is emerging as a major characteristic of the labour market in Pakistan.
Iqra Batool, Karachi.
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