Crucial role of women in workforce

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LAHORE: Pakistan’s unemployment crisis, which affects groups of all ages but influences young people, such as gradually economic growth, lack of industrial diversity, weak job creation and education and market requirements. A similarities between this are born from structural issues.

Unlike developed economies, where the demand for older workers moves forward, Pakistan’s labor market is monitored. In such a scenario, one can assume that the minimum participation of women in the economic mainstream can be ignored. However, the absence of a large majority of women by manpower significantly hinders the country’s economic development.

According to a World Bank’s 2024 report, the increase in women’s employment may increase to the level of men, which can increase Pakistan’s economic output by 50 % in the long run. Despite some progress, the rate of participation in the country’s women’s labor force is below both the South Asian and the lower middle -income country, highlighting a significant room for improvement.

There are many industrial and economic sectors where maximum participation of women can unlock economic capabilities. For example, value-added textile is dominated by women globally, yet in Pakistan, women are only 20-25 % of the manpower in this sector. Due to their expertise in sewing and high performance, women are often preferred in the costume industry. Pakistan can significantly promote its textile exports by increasing women’s participation in textile to the appearance level in Bangladesh, Vietnam or India. Extension of value -added classes such as fashion, sportsware and domestic textiles is capable of creating millions of jobs.

Pakistan’s Information Technology (IT) sector is also increasing rapidly. Although about 288.2 % of the Techwork Force globally, according to the World Economic Forum’s ‘World Gender Gap Report 2024’, their representation in Pakistan’s IT sector is very low. A study by the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) reveals that women make only 14 % of the country’s IT workforce. It is represented by limited access to social principles, educational differences and opportunities in STEM sectors.

Globally, women form an important part of the health care manpower. The World Health Organization reports that women are about 67 % of global health and social care workforce, which provides essential services to about five billion people. The participation of Pakistani women in health care reflects these global trends to some extent.

In the pharmaceutical sector, women represent more than 60 % of the global workforce, which is estimated to suggest that by 2030, 73 % of the global pharmacy manpower will be women. However, in Pakistan, the representation of women in the pharmaceutical industry is significantly lower. A survey by the Pakistan Business Council states that 50 % of pharmaceutical companies employ only 10-20 % of women in their workforce.

Along with social and cultural principles, women play a vital role in the less participation of labor force in Pakistan, with the impression of women’s religious dignity. This may be explained, despite the rate of literacy in areas like IT and pharmaceuticals, women are not given a fair share in employment opportunities. In other fields, low female literacy rate has become a major obstacle to the workforce.

The limited participation of women in Pakistan’s economy not only bans individual occasions, but also hinders the country’s economic growth and development. To solve this problem, comprehensive policies are needed, which aims to include social, cultural and educational barriers to participate in the women’s labor force.