Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said his government is actively working on a policy aimed at lowering unemployment by providing the youth with professional skills and fostering private sector involvement, as these, according to him, are the key elements for enhancing job opportunities in the country. The prime minister, while chairing a meeting of Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, has also said that Uraan Pakistan project will create new employment opportunities across the country.

Although the intentions of the prime minister are pious, so to speak, he has no clear picture or a strategy through which the challenge of unemployment can be dealt with in a meaningful manner. In my view, he must set a target of new jobs that must be created in coming weeks, months and years.

China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, for example, has created nearly 170,000 or more new jobs so far. Although the number of new jobs created through the CPEC can be described as less than modest in view of the burgeoning population of the country with a huge youth bulge and the size of investment into this mega project, it nevertheless gives us a reasonably clear picture of where we stand in relation to our job creation efforts.

No doubt, there is a need to equip our youth with emerging technologies. Yes, equipping the youth with modern technical skills is a praiseworthy objective and need of the hour. Unfortunately, however, the incumbent government’s policy on information technology has been brazenly characterised by protracted internet slowdowns in particular, hurting the prospects of growth in this sector and alienating a large number of aspirants. Therefore, its rhetoric of new job creation doesn’t carry much weight.

Samina Bhoon

Lahore

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025