Unemployment occurs when the majority of people in the country are unemployed. Almost all developing and developed countries around the world are facing this macroeconomic problem. Unemployment is closely linked to other social problems.
Unemployment is a sensitive problem and most often encountered in Pakistan. Most natives suffer from this depression called “unemployment”. Many Pakistani graduates are talented, intelligent and knowledgeable, but they do not have the opportunity to work. Currently, more than 3 million Pakistanis are unemployed and this proportion is over 12%. Many students go abroad to work after graduation. Pakistan is fortunate to have valuable human capital, but unfortunately, for lack of opportunities, most of them leave the country in the form of brain drain. The main reason for unemployment in Pakistan is due to the lagging agricultural sector which accounts for 20.9% of the country’s GDP and more than 44% obtain jobs in this sector, directly or indirectly.
There are innumerable reasons behind the threat of unemployment in Pakistan. First, the uncontrolled and ever-growing population of Pakistan is undoubtedly a challenge. According to statistics, the population of Pakistan increases by 2.2%. The factors responsible for overcrowding are illiteracy, early marriage and desire to have children, lack of knowledge, and so on. More than one million people enter the labour market each year. As a result, the unemployment rate is increasing year after year.
Secondly, in Pakistan, an inappropriate educational system is one of the reasons for unemployment. The education system in Pakistan has been ineffective since independence. A practical and effective educational policy is not formulated and followed to improve it. The system is very imbalanced since we can see the governmental and private education system. There is a lack of technical and practical education and many universities do not offer the latest and most advanced programmes. As a result, people are asking about jobs because of lack of experience and skills.
Thirdly, unemployment position in Pakistan has worsened due to the problem of terrorism and political instability. This led to the destruction of institutions and affected the peace and economic growth of several regions. This is the main reason why international investors refrained from investing their capital in Pakistan. Many factories have closed due to the explosion of suicide, where many people are working to earn money for their lives, due to the explosion of many unemployed, on the other hand, the production of different things went down and unemployment went up.
Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the security forces and agencies, the peace of Pakistan has been restored to some extent, contributing to the development of the CPEC and creating employment opportunities in the region. This can somehow control the level of unemployment in Pakistan.
Pakistan is blessed with many natural resources and is an atomic power, still facing an energy crisis. There are many sources of energy production in Pakistan, but due to lack of planning, efforts and corruption, Pakistan has a problem of energy crisis. The Government of Pakistan cannot provide electricity to the residential areas of Pakistan and the industrial sector is severely affected. As a result, factories and energy-intensive industries are moving to other Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. As a result, a large workforce has become the victims of unemployment.
Rate of unemployment in Pakistan remained unchanged at 5.90 percent in 2016 from 5.90 percent in 2015. This rate in Pakistan decreased to 5.90 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015 from 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014. It averaged 5.46 percent from 1985 to 2015, reaching an all-time high of 7.80 percent in the second quarter of 2002 and a record low of 3.10 percent in the fourth quarter of 1987. In Pakistan, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively seeking employment as a percentage of the workforce.
The Government of Pakistan is trying to reduce the unemployment rate by introducing different schemes for example scheme of self-employment of the prime minister, different financial corporation’s of banks and small businesses are granting loans to unemployed young people and qualified professionals with diploma/degree and commercial experience. Loans range from Rs.10,000 to Rs.500,000 for small businesses and from Rs.500,000 to Rs.5,000,000 for small industries, etc. Small Business Finance Corporation is playing a role in reducing unemployment. Until March 1999, the Small Business Finance Corporation has sanctioned Rs. 208.4 million, against Rs.1,551.95 million have been disbursed to 9,383 persons.
The SBFC has generated employment for 28,149 people under the prime minister’s self-employment scheme until March, 2010. A development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEDA) has been established for the growth and development of self-employment schemes in Pakistan. During the year 1998, around 104,000 persons were sent abroad to work under the government employment plans abroad.
The government’s liberal economic and fiscal policies can reduce the unemployment rate because they can create new job and business opportunities in the country. It is necessary to announce a package of economic reactivation to stimulate investment and industrial production, boost exports, expand tax bases and reduce tariffs.
Despite all these facilities which are provided us by our government than where we lake to attain employment, the harsh reality is that our youth is not as vigilant as they ought to be. One of the advantages of 21st Century is easy access to data. Materials, videos, free online courses can help the student update knowledge and learn from the experience of students and teachers from different parts of the world. This, of course, depends on the willingness and motivation of the individual to learn something additional.
After having interviewed and worked closely for the variety of projects with international applicants, which gave an idea of how they create and shape their future career. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of them set the goal and work to achieve that goal. The passion and strong desire to be selected the youth must be wakeful to achieve success.
On the other hand, a large number of applicants are looking for any opportunity in any field and, consequently, they will decide what to do as their occupations. However, this kind of opportunity cannot be found easily which in result cause unemployment. Closely linked and interlaced matter is the approach of states and companies towards the subject. Insufficiency, reduced project options and certain limitations prevent students from achieving self-realization to be creative and do what they love.
In addition, when a student completes an internship, companies are not willing to share information with someone who is temporary there. As a result, these students are completing one to three months of internship without obtaining adequate practice.
Pursuing this further, companies are hiring experienced people that consequently lead to high youth unemployment rate. Each company should recruit at least one graduate, and in that way, help the state on the path to a healthier society, teach the new generations and bring new ideas to the company.
Nowadays, obtaining a Bachelor’s degree does not seem impressive, for this reason, most graduates continue their studies immediately after graduation. The search for higher education, most of the time, is not because students want to improve their knowledge, but because of unemployment. When a graduate is not given a job opportunity due to lack of experience he often decides to continue studying until a job opportunity arises. When this type of thinking becomes common, in the market, we will witness a significant increase in the number of Master’s degree holders. If the situation does not change soon, we will deal with students holding Masters or doctorates without practical skills.
One can clearly highlight that both, the government and students, can play a vital role in shaping the future of youth. Mainly, students and graduates should ask themselves if they have reached their full potential to take an action and attain what they have ever aimed. On the other hand, government must execute various projects with the aim of including young people so that they can be inspired and motivated to be productive and, in this way, contribute to society.
In the last resort the worth-understanding words of Susan Abulhawa from the book “Mornings in Jenin” that can lead you to think: “We are all born with the greatest treasures we will ever have in life”. One of these treasures is your intellect, while the other is your heart. The necessary tools of these treasures are time and health. How and to what extent he will use these gifts given by God to help him and humanity reflects how much he is giving importance …”
The writer is a freelance columnist based in Quetta.