PM’s 10 mln jobs initiative aligned with global studies

ISLAMABAD, Sep 6 (APP):Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initiative to generate 10 million jobs over a five years period stands aligned with the findings of renowned world institutions to cope with the core issue of unemployment for ensuring a promising future for the youth of the country.
The incumbent government had announced ambitious initiative to create 10 million jobs i.e. 2 million jobs every year while the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its recent report had estimated requirements of some 1.3 million jobs every year.
The country requires some 3.5 million jobs instantly to clear backlog created due to over the years unemployment.
As per the UNDP report, combining the current unemployment figures of 3.5 million and additional
requirements of 1.3 million brings the figure to the same target as fixed by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in its manifesto.
According to UNDP’s National Human Development Report (NHDR), the growth in employment creation was necessary to match the unprecedented number of young people entering the working age. The additional jobs to be created per year were for the next five years, the report added.
Experts believe that the job target set by the Prime Minister appears to be a step forward and convincing determination that needs unflinching efforts and huge economic impetus to disembark the desired destination.
“Expanding the formal sector, supporting entrepreneurship, building the human capital of youth and active labour market policies are key instruments to ensure that the required growth is inclusive and sustainable,” the report added.
The report suggested that the gradual increase in labour force participation rates means added pressure on the labour market with increased demand for employment opportunities.
The NHDR is a thorough document with indigenous youth employment propensity and their demands for the stakeholders to ensure better future promising employment. The survey of the report believed that job creation has been relatively fast in Pakistan.
There is an exchange between creating limited work opportunities that are high in quality and offering a larger number of jobs that do not meet quality conditions. The report recommended that complete concentration on quality and not on creating enough jobs would be equally problematic while failure to produce additional employment opportunities could lead to 43 million people being unemployed by 2050.
The agricultural sector, constituting Pakistan’s main source of employment (42.3 percent), has immense potential for employment generation at both the farm and non-farm levels.
However, suffering from declining shares in the national GDP and low productivity, this sector will require the right set of investments and policy reforms to improve. Apart from reforms in the traditional farming sector, rural enterprise development has significant potential for employment generation.
The report also revealed another key sector of Pakistan’s economy, manufacturing, currently absorbs around 15.3 percent of the total employed labour force despite being hindered by energy shortages and the poor law and order situation.
The services industry, currently employing 42.4 percent of Pakistan’s total employed labour force, is another important sector with great untapped potential. It’s some sub-sectors function at a far lower rate than their capacity.
The hospitality sector, accommodation and food, directly linked to tourism, accounts for only 1.6 percent of the country’s total employment. This sector can contribute significantly to employment generation if supported and promoted with a clear policy direction for employment generation.
Sub-sectors of this industry, finance and insurance services, contribute just fewer than two percent to Pakistan’s employment, while information and communication contribute less than half a percent.
Increasing economic activities and improving access to finance and technology would encourage significant growth and employment creation in these sectors.
Overall, with the rapidly growing services sector becoming a major source of jobs in the country, Pakistan must ensure that this sector provides the young with a chance at long-term career progression.