KARACHI: The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released a report on global trends and technologies that may affect Pakistan’s job market, noting that some jobs, such as bank tellers, data entry clerks, and accountants, may go out of demand, and suggesting that AI and big data will be crucial for companies’ skills strategies.
Despite having a large pool of potential talent, Pakistan’s labour force participation rate is at 57%, with 55% of the workforce in vulnerable employment. The unemployment rate in the country remains relatively low at 5%.
The report states that digital platforms and apps, big-data analytics, education, and workforce development technologies are some of the technologies that may have an impact. The report predicts that 23% of jobs may change by 2027, with 69 million new jobs created and 83 million eliminated.
The report also mentions that cognitive skills such as analytical and creative thinking will be the most important for workers in the next five years. Furthermore, the green transition and localisation of supply chains are expected to lead to net job growth.
The report indicates that the Accommodation, Food, and Leisure Services industries are less optimistic about talent development compared to the global average, while the Energy sector has a more positive outlook.
Pakistan has the most negative outlook globally, with a lower skills stability compared to the global average. Encouraging completion of short courses and online certificates has the potential to open up new talent pipelines, and more companies plan to adopt education and workforce development technologies in the next five years. There is optimism that these technologies will create jobs, although opinions vary among industries.
