Engineering Post Report
The human resource of a country quite obviously plays a vital role not only in the economic development but also for the social well being of the people. However, proper management of human resource can boost economic performance and reduce social distress also.
Pakistan’s 5th most populous country in the world, According to the National Institute of Population Studies, the estimated population of Pakistan is 224.78 million in 2021 out of which 82.83 million reside in the urban areas whereas 141.94 million live in the rural areas and the population density is 282 per kilometer.
Pakistan has a large labor force that stands among the top 10 largest forces in the world. To generate sufficient employment opportunities for such a large labour force is certainly and surely a big challenge. In addition to this, skills gap makes it quite difficult for the individuals to find jobs and for the employers to find appropriate trained workers for their industries. Skills development enhances both the peoples” capacities to work and their opportunities at work ,offering more scope for creativity and satisfaction at work. The future prosperity of a country depends ultimately on the number of persons in employment and how productive they are at work. In Pakistan, skills development can play a key role in the alleviation of poverty.
The labour force in the country increased from 65.5 million in 2017-18 to 71.76 million in 2020-21 and the number of employed persons accordingly also increased from 61.71 million to 67.25 million during the same period. The unemployment rate slightly decreased from 6.9 per cent in 2018-19 to 6.3 per cent in 2020-21 showing that 4.51 million from the labour force could not get job in FY2021.
As regards work force employment sectors, being a major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), agriculture plays an important role in the development of the national economy. According to the Labour Force Survey 2020-21, the share of employment in the agriculture sector decreased from 39.2 per cent in 2018-19 to 37.4 per cent in 2020-21. This sector is the key source of supply of raw material to the other sectors of the economy, especially the industrial sector. The significant share of employment from agriculture sector has been shifted to industry and services sector due to technological transformation. The services sector is the largest growing sector of the economy and the share of employment in the services sector was 37.2 per cent in 2020-21.
The construction and manufacturing sectors are considered as major source of the economic growth and development. Expansion of these sectors can generate millions of jobs for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled work force, according to the experts. Further, these sectors also play an important role in generating income both in the formal and informal sectors.
Share of unemployment in the construction sector as such has increased from 8.0 per cent in 2018-19 to 9.5 per cent in 2020-21. The increase shows that job opportunities are being created in the country. Wholesale and retail trade sector has also shown 14.4 per cent employment in 2020-21 . The employment level in transport/storage and communication sectors has remained the same in the period under review whereas the share of employment in social and personal service sectors as the share of employment in community/social & personal service sectors has increased from 14.9 per cent in 2018-19 to 16.0 per cent in 2020-21, the experts maintained on the basis of official data available
