Labour market reforms

#Labour #market #reforms

LAHORE: It is important to develop labor markets that meet both young and old for economic and social stability. Reforms in Pakistan’s labor market are essential to tackling key challenges, including youth unemployment, low participation of women, lack of social security for older workers, and similarities between skills and job opportunities.

The government will have to take several steps to build a more comprehensive labor market. To include young people, educational system-which currently developed graduates with degree but professional training in areas such as IT, engineering and industrial manufacturing to eliminate the gap without job-prepared skills Should connect.

Early apprenticeship programs should be encouraged by public private partnerships, which enables young people to gain work experience. Helping young traders through soft loans and incubation centers can help create employment opportunities rather than fully rely on existing industries.

For older workers, research and education are essential. There are many struggles to maintain technological development. The government and the industry should offer a freshness program of expertise, especially in digital literacy. Part -time and remote work opportunities can enable older professionals to be active in manpower by adjusting their needs. Pension reforms and improved insurance schemes should help those who are unable to continue their full -time job.

An important part of Pakistan’s manpower operates in the informal sector, which lacks legal reservations and employment protection. Providing incentives for businesses to enroll and comply with labor laws can help ensure fair wages and benefits. Increasing the participation of women’s workforce requires better transport facilities and workplace safety measures. The policies that promote remote work and flexible shifts can further enhance women’s participation, while firmly implementing equal salary rules will help eliminate gender -based differences.

Industrial growth is the key to employment creation. Instead of giving priority to residential schemes, industrial expansion should take priority to create long -term jobs. Well -planned special economic zone (SEZS), which focuses on labor industries such as textile, auto parts, and food processing, can be adjusted to both young and old workers. Strengthening labor laws, ensuring their implementation, and increasing social security coverage can prevent workers from exploiting.

Pakistan has the benefit of a young population, but to ensure that speedy action is needed to adjust to all age groups in labor markets. Otherwise, population profits can turn into a crisis of unemployment and economic tension. The two major fields with the ability to create important jobs and promote GDP are the value -added textile and IT sector.

The textile sector relies heavily on raw exports (yarn, fabric) instead of high margin finished products, such as apparel, domestic textile and technical textiles. To increase job creation and competitiveness, the government will have to introduce special training in garment design, digital textile printing and automatic sewing to facilitate high cost production.

Pakistan is also lagging behind in fashion marketing and brand development. Cooperation between textile firms and fashion institutes can eliminate this gap. Training in special areas such as medical textile, sports textile and industrial fabrics can also help increase exports beyond traditional markets.

Automation should be encouraged in cutting, dyeing and sewing, workers are trained to operate and maintain modern machinery. Since international buyers demand rapidly environmentally friendly textiles, training for sustainable productivity-which includes organic cotton processing and water recycling in color-can increase the price.

Unlike Bangladesh, which has successfully built global brands, Pakistan lacks strong local brands. Brand development and e -commerce training (such as selling through platforms like Amazon and Alibaba) is very important. Textile firms also need market intelligence skills to tap in high margin markets like Japan, Australia and the Middle East, rather than fully relying on Europe and the United States.

Despite the high demand for software engineers, data analysts, cyber -scoring experts, and AI experts, Pakistan is facing a severe shortage of IT skilled professionals. The main reason for this is not expertise, as most of the graduating programs do not experience in cloud computing and AI. Brian Drain has become an important challenge, skilled IT workers are migrating to the United States, Canada and the Middle East in search of better salaries. In addition, universities in Pakistan produce ordinary IT graduates, which pay little attention to high -demand areas such as cybercularity, blockchain, or UI/UX design.

Coding boot camps, AI/ML courses, and cybersecurity training need to be introduced in partnership with private companies to tackle this talent shortage. The IT sector will also have to develop an apprenticeship system, which can allow fresh graduates to work on real -world projects while acquiring special skills.

Pakistan is a global leader in freelancing, yet many freelancers earn less than their capacity. High value skills training such as sauce development, DOPs, and cloud security can help increase their income. IT firms should offer concessions, such as stock options, flexibility in remote work, and tax benefits.

Women’s participation in the IT sector is less than 10 %. The implementation of policies that promote the hybrid work model and ensure the workplace can help increase women’s employment in the tech industry. By tackling these challenges of the labor market, Pakistan can unlock its economic capacity and create a more comprehensive workforce that benefits all age groups.