Pakistan Cannot ABSORB Millions of Unemployed Youth. Where should they Emigrate?

[SQ8]

Oddly - there are conspiracy theorists who believe the only logical solution to such overpopulation is a massive conflict. Essentially sacrificing millions of youth(males anyway) in the conflict to maintain the balance.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Instead of raw immigration or migrant work, why not develop policies that help DESCON, OGDCL, Bahria Town, etc, get construction, energy and other development contracts overseas? These companies can pull foreign exchange for Pakistan, and take Pakistani youth (educated and manual labour) overseas for work. @Indus Pakistan @Pakistan Space Agency

The solution is simple. The amount of energy Pakistani people spend on teaching religion should be spent on STEM subjects. Every year Pakistan should have millions of science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates. Boys and girls. Every family should have at least two STEM graduates.

This would create a nation of scientists and culture of logical, rational thinking like Germans, Japanese or Russians. This huge pool then would form the basis of a advanced economy that could take on the world.

 

[Bossman]

Most of you are not aware that eastern part of Pakistani Punjab is facing a labor shortage both in agricultural and industrial sectors.

our issue is social and not economic.

 

[Black.Mamba]

Instead of raw immigration or migrant work, why not develop policies that help DESCON, OGDCL, Bahria Town, etc, get construction, energy and other development contracts overseas? These companies can pull foreign exchange for Pakistan, and take Pakistani youth (educated and manual labour) overseas for work. @Indus Pakistan @Pakistan Space Agency

This is a long shot, you can look into the NESPAK middle east operations (the disaster of epic proportions).

In my opinion, we need revolutionary changes in the education system, the redundant Masters and Bachelors program (I don't want to name to hurt people's sentiments) should be absolutely discouraged or outright banned. Instead, the entire focus should be skilled based education; 6 months, 12 months, 24 months (max) highly focused programs. Learn the necessary and move to the industry.

 

[Bossman]

Chi

Oddly - there are conspiracy theorists who believe the only logical solution to such overpopulation is a massive conflict. Essentially sacrificing millions of youth(males anyway) in the conflict to maintain the balance.

It’s not a “conspiracy theory” it’s the Malthusian theory from the 18th century. It’s veracity can still be debated.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Punjab is facing a labor shortage both in agricultural and industrial sectors.

Probably because they are using antiquated technology and producing low value items which then requires lots of labour at cheap or slave rates.

Masters and Bachelors program

I know. On my last visit I met too many graduates who would tout "me done BA Hons Commerce, BA Hons Bijness etc etc but were clearly useless for turning Pakistan into a advanced industrial country.

 

[Thorough Pro]

We need to check our population growth rate.

-Pakistan's population will be between 350 to 400 by 2050.
-Millions of Workers (White/Blue Collars) /high and low skilled workers enter workforce
-Even if Economy grows at 6%, they could not be absorbed
-On the Other hand, a lot of countries in Far East Asia and Eastern europe are facing existential threat due POPULATION DECLINE
-Japan/South Korean desperately needs workers
-State of Pakistan can help workers already illegally staying in Greece, Spain, Turkey and Italy get legal status
-Countries like Romania, Lithuania, Croatia, and Latvia need immigrants to sustain.
-Russia needs people.
-immigrants in Middle East could be Encouraged to settle in countries to Permanently settle in the above mentioned countries and regions.

The EU countries that desperately need migrants to avoid shrinkage—and those that don’t

Migration is having a huge impact on Europe's population.

qz.com

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=population+decline+europe

Benefits
1, Will relive pressure on Pakistan
2. We are producing ENOUGH Brain. Do NOT worry about BRAIN DRAIN.
3. Economic Stability
3. Social Cohesion
4. Investment and Money from Overseas Pakistanis

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?
BE REALISTIC !

 

[313ghazi]

Excellent Ideas and they all will work but will not be good enough or cover ample amount of unemployed!

You're right they won't cover everyone. This government like the one before it is missing a trick with mass unemployment. However I think our educated youth need to be encouraged down this line, instead of wasting their prime years looking for jobs that don't exist and then paying through the nose for a chance to work in a fast food chain in a foreign country.

If I was in charge there would be 5 things I'd focus on in terms of unemployment;

1. Agriculture. This would be in 2 parts.

- The first part would be enabling small farmers to adopt a commercial model and create export quality goods. Then give them access to the export market. This would give them higher returns and allow them to hire staff to expand their small farms.

- The second part would be privately managed, state owned farms, which would hire workers to farm state owned land, which would generate food for both the domestic and export market. The export market would help make it profitable and the goods for the domestic market would be sold straight to utility stores at cost price using the vertical integration model. This would help beat food inflation too.

2. Helping existing businesses become export capable. I'd hire local qualified youth with degrees in business, marketing or web development etc to go around helping local manufacturers export their goods. Look at the clay pots made in Pakistan, or the clay cups and dishes. It could become a brand, a fashion and it could be exported. Today these items are sold outside the darbar, tommorow they'd be in your local Ikea, or Dunelm or Pottery Barn or whatever. The middle step to that is creating online demand for these products. This would also create long term jobs in business administration as most of these people probably don't have the skill set to service customers abroad and maintain records etc - so they'd have to hire educated trained youth to do it.

3. Mico-manufacturing. Mercedes, Apple, Nike whatever are not going to come and setup a factory in a place like Dina, or Mirpur, or some other small town in Pakistan. They are going to target big cities if they even do bother to come to Pakistan. What we need in these small towns is micro-industry. If you setup a factory making light bulbs for example, it'd cost a few lakh ruppees and hire maybe 10-20 people. That's 10-20 families being sustained though. These sorts of micro industries could be setup by private companies, maybe where Chinese companies outsource their labour (one advantage of CPEC).

4. Encourage large companies to move their factories here. We need these SEZ's to be up and running. We need to offer bigger companies incentives they don't have elsewhere. Right now we should be encouraging American and European companies who currently manufacture in China to try manufacturing in Pakistan. Offer them 50 year leases on land for a single dollar, these kinds of things to encourage them to move their work here.

5. Your idea. I don't disagree entirely with what you said - i just don't think we should be thinking of it as a solution to our employment issues. We need to export workers, but not unskilled workers. We need to setup vocational colleges up and down the country training people in skills. My brother in law makes a good living in Dubai driving water tankers. He spent lakhs of ruppees in Dubai training to drive such a vehicle and then once he had a license he got a job and then he bought his own truck. Now he has several trucks and has drivers working for him. He went there completely unskilled. We should copy the model of Poland. In western Europe if you need a plumber, an electrician, welder, mechanic, fork lift driver, truck driver, etc - you will likely hire a Polish. They skilled up their people and helped them get jobs in the EU. My cousin works in HR at a Food factory in the UK. He says they deal directly with agencies in the EU for staff. Those countries setup agencies who scoured western europe and sought to place their workers in roles across Europe. We need to setup something similar, but not for unskilled workers, but for skilled workers. Also not just basic skills - instead of security guards we should try training bodyguards. People who are multi-lingual, have experience in the security forces, computer literate, professional etc. Ex-soldiers could be running academies doing this sort of stuff.

Also as the demand for these skills grows in our own country, those with vocational skills will be able to earn a living at home rather than abroad.

The same can be true for educated youth. Train yourselves in skills the market requires (IT skills specifically), build up a resume through freelancing, then if you want apply for jobs abroad. You're much more likely to get them than if you just have a degree. If i want to hire a programmer, i want someone who knows how to code, not somone who has a degree in Computing. I have a degree in Computer Science and i'm a lousy programmer...lol Practical skills and knowledge you can demonstrate are equally as important.

 

[Goenitz]

No economy in the world is sustained by jobs in the public sector. All economies rely on the private sector to create work. If someone can access this forum and type in comprehensive english about the lack of jobs in Pakistan, the very same person can create an account on taskrabbit and do mundane admin jobs for people to earn money.

Yes I know. My response was to the Question that there are ample opportunities for youth in Pak.

If someone is smart enough to have a degree and not have a job, they can teach themselves SEO, Coding, Web development, graphic design or something like that online and pick up freelance work from places like fiverr.

If you are an MBA in Pakistan who can't find work, find a local craftsman and offer to sell their goods online. Create an e-commerce platform and sell Pakistani made arts and crafts online using something like etsy or shopify or whatever.

For the first part, we need medium class companies. Reputation/Organisation is important in freelancing.

You have to acknowledge that for small business to grow, you need middle working class, who can offer service. Then they buy all the stuff, business sector grows, and economy cycle runs smoothly. That working class is generated by public and large pvt industries.

There are quite a few youtube channels know where Pakistani entrapeneurship is encouraged. Two i visit are Mega Pakistan and Azad chaiiwala. It won't work for everyone, but for the middle class, educated youth without jobs - this is our time to shine.

The start ups are ok but the buyers are not there. Yes, there is no competition in good stuff but market is down. People are not even spending on weddings now.

 

[BATMAN]

All youth of Pakistan should join Imran Khan tiger force.
You can earn reasonable by rounding up vendors and street hawkers, who are selling 1cent more expensive than Imran Khan price list.

 

[Bossman]

Probably because they are using antiquated technology and producing low value items which then requires lots of labour at cheap or slave rates.

I know. On my last visit I met too many graduates who would tout "me done BA Hons Commerce, BA Hons Bijness etc etc but were clearly useless for turning Pakistan into a advanced industrial country.

You will be surprised at the high level of agricultural automation in certain parts of Pakistan because of shortage of labor. Go to Sialkot if you need a job. BTW it’s is Business and not Bijness and there is no degree like BA Hons Bijness.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

You're right they won't cover everyone. This government like the one before it is missing a trick with mass unemployment. However I think our educated youth need to be encouraged down this line, instead of wasting their prime years looking for jobs that don't exist and then paying through the nose for a chance to work in a fast food chain in a foreign country.

If I was in charge there would be 5 things I'd focus on in terms of unemployment;

1. Agriculture. This would be in 2 parts.

- The first part would be enabling small farmers to adopt a commercial model and create export quality goods. Then give them access to the export market. This would give them higher returns and allow them to hire staff to expand their small farms.

- The second part would be privately managed, state owned farms, which would hire workers to farm state owned land, which would generate food for both the domestic and export market. The export market would help make it profitable and the goods for the domestic market would be sold straight to utility stores at cost price using the vertical integration model. This would help beat food inflation too.

2. Helping existing businesses become export capable. I'd hire local qualified youth with degrees in business, marketing or web development etc to go around helping local manufacturers export their goods. Look at the clay pots made in Pakistan, or the clay cups and dishes. It could become a brand, a fashion and it could be exported. Today these items are sold outside the darbar, tommorow they'd be in your local Ikea, or Dunelm or Pottery Barn or whatever. The middle step to that is creating online demand for these products. This would also create long term jobs in business administration as most of these people probably don't have the skill set to service customers abroad and maintain records etc - so they'd have to hire educated trained youth to do it.

3. Mico-manufacturing. Mercedes, Apple, Nike whatever are not going to come and setup a factory in a place like Dina, or Mirpur, or some other small town in Pakistan. They are going to target big cities if they even do bother to come to Pakistan. What we need in these small towns is micro-industry. If you setup a factory making light bulbs for example, it'd cost a few lakh ruppees and hire maybe 10-20 people. That's 10-20 families being sustained though. These sorts of micro industries could be setup by private companies, maybe where Chinese companies outsource their labour (one advantage of CPEC).

4. Encourage large companies to move their factories here. We need these SEZ's to be up and running. We need to offer bigger companies incentives they don't have elsewhere. Right now we should be encouraging American and European companies who currently manufacture in China to try manufacturing in Pakistan. Offer them 50 year leases on land for a single dollar, these kinds of things to encourage them to move their work here.

5. Your idea. I don't disagree entirely with what you said - i just don't think we should be thinking of it as a solution to our employment issues. We need to export workers, but not unskilled workers. We need to setup vocational colleges up and down the country training people in skills. My brother in law makes a good living in Dubai driving water tankers. He spent lakhs of ruppees in Dubai training to drive such a vehicle and then once he had a license he got a job and then he bought his own truck. Now he has several trucks and has drivers working for him. He went there completely unskilled. We should copy the model of Poland. In western Europe if you need a plumber, an electrician, welder, mechanic, fork lift driver, truck driver, etc - you will likely hire a Polish. They skilled up their people and helped them get jobs in the EU. My cousin works in HR at a Food factory in the UK. He says they deal directly with agencies in the EU for staff. Those countries setup agencies who scoured western europe and sought to place their workers in roles across Europe. We need to setup something similar, but not for unskilled workers, but for skilled workers. Also not just basic skills - instead of security guards we should try training bodyguards. People who are multi-lingual, have experience in the security forces, computer literate, professional etc. Ex-soldiers could be running academies doing this sort of stuff.

Also as the demand for these skills grows in our own country, those with vocational skills will be able to earn a living at home rather than abroad.

The same can be true for educated youth. Train yourselves in skills the market requires (IT skills specifically), build up a resume through freelancing, then if you want apply for jobs abroad. You're much more likely to get them than if you just have a degree. If i want to hire a programmer, i want someone who knows how to code, not somone who has a degree in Computing. I have a degree in Computer Science and i'm a lousy programmer...lol Practical skills and knowledge you can demonstrate are equally as important.

Great post. China has emerged as the worlds largest exporter. Many Chinese companies because of increasin g labour costs have relocated abroad. More will do. The potential is huge. Why do you think places like Vietnam or Indonesia have taken most of these Chinese ventures but Pakistan has almost entirely been avoided? This is more surprising given the very close strategic relations between China and Pakistan unlike the underlying hostility with Vietnam. Add to this the huge CPEC project. This is rather disappointing. Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad etc should have been awash with Chinese companies. Even Bangladesh has taken in more Chinese companies then Pakistan.

What is behind this?

 

[KurtisBrian]

Will have to find what Pakistanis can be competitive in. Very difficult to be competitive in many of the industries that the East Asians are in. They often become perfect at their jobs. Result gov'ts and big wigs all around the world are scratching their heads wondering what their people can do?

 

[Pakistan Space Agency]

Instead of raw immigration or migrant work, why not develop policies that help DESCON, OGDCL, Bahria Town, etc, get construction, energy and other development contracts overseas? These companies can pull foreign exchange for Pakistan, and take Pakistani youth (educated and manual labour) overseas for work. @Indus Pakistan @Pakistan Space Agency

I'm a fan of Pakistanis migrating abroad. The more the better.

Pakistan is neither developed enough or developing fast enough to sustain the brain power and the man power it is generating currently.

 

[jamal18]

No where in the world do people want millions of dark skinned Pakistanis. At the most temporay workers like in saudi.