How should we go about creating jobs in Pakistan?

PKPolitics Discuss » Current Issues

How should we go about creating jobs in Pakistan?

(32 posts)

stingingnettle
Member

Pakistan has a huge young population and some of these young men and women are trained and educated to a decent level. My question is what must Pakistan do to create good jobs for these youngsters; jobs that pay them a living wage? What suggestions do you have for creating more jobs in Pakistan? What must we do, what kind of industry should we set up? How should we go about bringing an irreversible change in the culture of living on charity and bakhshish?

Posted 7 months ago on 22 Oct 2011 21:27 #
expakistani
Member

Manufacturing and farming industry is the only way to go for Pakistan.....
provide electricity in low rate to industrial and farming area.... thats what we need even if that take increase in electric bill to residential areas

Posted 7 months ago on 22 Oct 2011 21:40 #
stingingnettle
Member

This is perhaps easier said than done but we have got to start somewhere. Some assumptions have to be made first which are perhaps obvious to most of us. Industry cannot flourish in a time and place where corruption is rife or a workforce that lacks discipline. Workers need to be paid living wages and the product they produce must be absolutely solid, worthy of a money back guarantee.

My first suggestion will is to install factories for assembling high-tech and high quality consumer equipment. Surely we can produce things cheaper than the Chinese? Can't we?

I am not talking about fridges, water-cooler, fans, ACs and washing machines but computers parts, mobile phones, PDAs and such like. It does need a solid initial investment but the dividends will be great for Pakistan. You don't need university graduates for these jobs but a disciplined bunch of workers who have an eye for detail.

If people get paid properly, then they have money to spend in shops which I hope will start a cycle.

Posted 7 months ago on 22 Oct 2011 21:46 #
stingingnettle
Member

Expakistani;

What kind of manufacturing do you have in mind? The same question about farming? What is your view on wages?

I agree we need to provide power to our industries on war-footings.

Posted 7 months ago on 22 Oct 2011 21:49 #
insaftak
Member

Tax reforms will have to play a big part in this. A direct tax approach would allow any government to reduce the % of taxes charged to manufacturing industries. Government could recover this money by taxing agriculture and services that usually don't pay taxes.

Decreasing Interest rates will allow companies to borrow more money to invest in business but we will have to watch out for inflation but this could be controlled since most of indirect taxation on products would reduce the prices.

Spending money on mega infrastructure projects.

Posted 7 months ago on 22 Oct 2011 22:06 #
shaagird
Member

developing new cities is the only way!

Posted 7 months ago on 22 Oct 2011 22:31 #
stingingnettle
Member

Insaftak

"Decreasing Interest rates will allow companies to borrow more money to invest in business but we will have to watch out for inflation but this could be controlled since most of indirect taxation on products would reduce the prices."

Whilst in principle I agree with your point about reducing interest rate but looking over the last 20 or 30 years, inflation has been a constant curse. I can see that the recent inflation may have something to do with oil prices but Pakistan has never been able to control inflation. The money people earn or save must hold its value otherwise jobs just become slave labour.

My feeling is we need to generate a young work force which is specifically geared towards industry. Why aren't there more internships in the industry in Pakistan? We need high profile specialist training colleges which can provide high quality training and a steady follow of disciplined workers who can, should and will demand to be paid properly. The current school system looks down on vocational education as a second rate choice. This means people place little value to proper vocational training.

Posted 7 months ago on 22 Oct 2011 22:59 #
OZ
Member

I 100% agree with Stingingnettle that we need to generate a young work force we need to offer more internship and graduate programs.
However my suggestion is we all should take initiatives at our levels.Instead of waiting for opportunity we should create opportunities.finding online jobs can help reducing unemployment.
Bid for online projects.
Thousands of small and medium projects from data entry,forum posting to Software development are available online to bid.
Here is a web site for example:

http://www.freelancer.com/

Formal and informal professional training, connecting to different professional networks/forums can also help such as http://www.linkedin.com.

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 3:48 #
hypocrite
Member

In my opinion if following are achieved, job creation will automatically start:

a) Stable law and order situation
b) Elimination of corruption
c) Smoothening of processes and procedures for establishing businesses
d) Implementation of supportive tax regime and incentives
e) Development of stable commercial terms with neighboring countries to tap into their markets
f) Establishment of merit as sole criteria for hiring people
g) Stable long term policies that don’t change with regime changes

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 5:12 #
stingingnettle
Member

OZ;

Thanks for positive suggestions;

You make a good point about us being proactive as opposed to waiting for jobs to come to us. Individuals creating opportunities, being highly enterprising, a go-get-it attitude and the right training is what we need a lot of.

All too often we have seen various Government leaders of the last 20 or 30 years repeating a rather odd behaviour, promising people jobs as if it was khairat or bakhshish.

This tends to happen whenever there is a disaster or when desperate person is able to hand a piece of paper (aka an application for a job) to the president, prime minister, minister or any other important post holder). Promises are made and a great show of benevolence is put on for the media and a week later everything is forgotten. People then complain about being fooled yet again.

What I describe in the above paragraph is true the worst kind of poison and it encourages nepotism, crony-ism and
makes people think that the only conduit to a good job is to know someone or is via an act of charity of someone. I truly find it disgusting and outrageous.

So here is a question for everyone; How do we create more entrepreneurs from amongst our young population?

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 10:38 #
stingingnettle
Member

Hypocrite;

Thank your for your thoughtful comments

What you give is a sensible and rational list of pre-conditions for the creation of jobs for our young. There are some very complex issues you point to and I am not sure we have the luxury of fixing all that before we can start creating new jobs. Do you think what you say is achievable? How do we begin?

There is a huge culture of 'reference' ie when you go to any office you make sure you have a reference for someone important.

People when the go into an office often say; "Mujhay faalan Sahib nae bheeja hae...." This is a mentality and cultural attitude and this is one of the reason why the right people don't get the right jobs. If the right people (based on merit) were on the right jobs, new jobs will be created as you say, automatically.

I remember waiting in a doctor's waiting room and a lady walked in with a child straight without waiting for her turn and triumphantly declared to the doctor she is a friend of xyz and needs him to treat her son. I was absolutely delighted when I heard the doctor say, he was not going to treat her son any better or worse just because they have a common friend. This is an example of we try and use references everywhere. In ordinary life, we probably are mostly trying to avoid a queue but when we use it to get jobs we poison the who process of job creation.

You make a good point when you say we should trade more with our neighbours as it costs less to sell to them or buy from them.

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 10:53 #
sultanalikhan
Member

Looking at Hypocrite's pre-conditions with a wry or perhaps sadistic way of humor we can easily translate his suggestions as "PEEPS IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN IN MA LIFE TIME, SAVE THE SERMON"

@Hypocrite no offence intended here

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 12:49 #
stingingnettle
Member

SAK;

So many things to do and only one lifetime to do them all in eh! Not easy as you say. Your point put in Urdu;

'koon jita hae teray mussalman hoenay taak' (I am sure you know which verse I have distorted to get this one)

Can job creation not happen in parallel with other reforms?

I suspect it can if we are clever about it. Perhaps an analogy is preparing a three course meal; the start can be quite messy and scattered in appearance but at the end you can have your taste-buds tantalised.

So my solution is; the process ain't and can't be serial; it has to be parallel, that way you get more done. The mathematics of such methods and systems is well understood if one cares to delve deep.

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 13:16 #
semirza
Moderator

Spot on stingingnettle. Agreed 100%…..Multiple processes should be initiated in parallel if alleviation of poverty/job creation in Pakistan is the target.

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 13:23 #
hypocrite
Member

stingingnettle

Thanks. I think business takes roots and flourishes where it finds conducive environment be it communist enviornment of China, less developed countries like Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, South Africa, Mangolia or Angola, or relatrively developed countries like Malyasia, Turkey, Brazil etc.

Yes some initial actions will attract business which hopefully will create more stimulus for taking more action. I do agree that we do require parallel approach but the first sign has to emerge from the enviornment where the busienss has to be conducted

Sultan Ali khan sahib

No offence taken but it will really be sad if actions are not taken or positive actions are not supported by all of us.

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 16:48 #
hypocrite
Member

Few weeks ago I read an article n Bloomberg Businessweek about National Food oeprating in Karachi. While National Food has fantastic track record which has led to creation of many jobs, they have been operating in an environment that could have been better.

Ther article talks about National Foods Factory Manager an dhow he spends his time at work, zig zgas / changes his travel route everyday, goes and meet the b15 buses that bring staff to work and leads the convoy to work site, has hired a security company to patrol the premises and vicinity of the factory. The factory is guarded by security staff with shotguns who body search each employee into the factory.

In his words " If I didnt have to spend so much time figuring all this out, I would be looking at ways to enhance productivity".

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 17:16 #
hypocrite
Member

Again I came across an article in Bloomberg about how Unilever has enhanced his sales and created employment by remainign within Pakistan.

This year the cotton crop has been very good and the international rates have gone up by 4 times. This has created immense wealth for the growers who are now enjoying items which they considered luxuries like soap and shampoo.

In order for Unilever to tap into the rural market it has hired female who understand rural women and their taste. These female staff are called " Guddi Baji".

Now by tapping into a potential huge market, new employment opportunities have been created for many female workers.

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 17:20 #
stingingnettle
Member

Hypocrite;

Thank you for your concrete examples. They make instructional reading;

I suppose, without law and order, you just can't do any business. An example is Somalia where there is not much happening in terms of business unless you think of piracy as a business.

We cannot rely solely on windfall trade to generate jobs but I take your point about how we need to grasp opportunities as they arise. I suspect this was the point your were trying to make.

You can look at the huge young population of Pakistan as a time-bomb or as an unprecedented opportunity. If we do not tap this huge resource properly we are looking at a disaster of Biblical proportions. If we can turn into a work force, then can you just imagine the potential. They could build new cities for you in a matter of years.

Perhaps Pakistan greatest resource, it's youth, has remained untapped but it does have a use-by date, and this is something we neglect at our own peril. Can you imagine a overwhelming population of ageing people who have done little or no meaningful work and who have little or no savings to show for their lives? I shudder at the thought.

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 19:39 #
expakistani
Member

@stingingnettle

Bhai... We don't have to recreate wheel, just increase production. Our same old tradition of jawal, gundum, cotton, alo, Gana, sarsoon, peez Mangoes, Apples and sweet mosmi...add Cattle farms, fisheries with pottery farms
Will keep peoples living in village and increase their income by exporting excessive stuff to our south and eastern part of Asia and Africa.

set up industries around for by products such as suggar, soya oil.

Rather then go for High tech heavy Mechanical stuff set up Manufacturing plants of small goods like sports goods, stuff toys, leather garments and cotton base industry, plastic (recyclable).

Something required more manpower which we have more then any thing else.

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 22:59 #
stingingnettle
Member

expakistani

Thanks for your comment; I appreciate your input

Today we live in an age of 'value-added' not just in commodities but also in education and training.

Pakistan will have to embrace the value-added culture in all aspect of its life. This is the only way to move on from being a small-time provider of cheap agricultural products and low-tech goods to a provider of high-quality, high-tech products and services.

To earn good return from our toil and from our exports; we need to add value to what we produce and sell. Adding value to a product is a proper science and must be taught to our farmers, engineers and other trainee professionals. There are a millions ways of adding value to your product or service but this wont happen accidently; someone has got to think, plan and implement it.

Pakistan cannot remain an underachiever and an under-dog on the world scene.

Value-Added equates to more and better paid jobs for Pakistanis. We need to think outside the box.

It's time to move away from traditional thinking, traditional farming and traditional way of selling our products and services.

Posted 7 months ago on 23 Oct 2011 23:17 #
ntdr
Member

For established businesses in any sector of Pakistan Economy, they need to ascertain if their products are in demand and market is ready to utilize their products and services to a level which offers growth. If despite the growth capacity forecasts, job-market is slow then its an indication of weak infrastructure, poor government economic and business friendly policies, lack of venture capatalists knowledge and interests to offer funds to businesses, unavailability of resources (energy, trained man-power, business executives,etc), just to name a few factors. What can these established businesses can do achieve higher growth which in turn will stimulate and boost the job-market? Well in Pakistan, its anyone's guess!!

However, if enterprenuers in Pakistan (living in or abroad) form a platform with single objective to capitalise on technical economical sector by creating opportunities for Pakistan's youth/new generation through investment in technical and vocational education to develop highly trained professional capable of market driven high-productivity and quality goods and/or services then there is a hope that small business enterprises could mushroom in Pakistan to generate employment which could serve local/national/global business needs. Again a government would need to bless such an initiative as gaining global market share pretty much depend on relationships with other countries/organisations/international bodies.

I personally do not believe that corruption stops creation of market sector (be it technical or conventional) but it surely does hinders its progress. If it wasnt true then India, China, Brazil would not been reckoned with emerging economies.

Posted 7 months ago on 24 Oct 2011 5:57 #
quaidkamazaar
Member

i have an idea...

lets not have unnecessary public holidays, and strikes for stupid reasons.... this makes Pakistan loose a lot of money and economic activity halts. Pakistan needs stability.

Posted 7 months ago on 24 Oct 2011 9:11 #
stingingnettle
Member

ntdr

Thank you very much for you hugely useful and informative comments; They have informed our debate in a meaningful way.

You write;

"For established businesses in any sector of Pakistan Economy, they need to ascertain if their products are in demand and market is ready to utilize their products and services to a level which offers growth."

I do agree with this and I would just like to add that often demand needs to be created. This is essentially for new jobs.

Your further write;

"....investment in technical and vocational education to develop highly trained professional capable of market driven high-productivity and quality goods and/or services"

You make a fundamental point here and I agree with this whole-heartedly. I think this will change the mindset that exists and the 'kaam chalao' mentality will slowly die a natural death. It will also generate competition with the job market where only the best trained people earn the best wages.

To add to your point; a market in which it is mostly possible to compete on a level playing field can serve as the first step towards curing corruption though, you are right, it will take longer than otherwise. What is fundamental for job creation is that all small and big businesses must compete fairly against each other. The difficulty with Pakistan sometimes is that you are competing against businesses which are state protected or subsidised, examples are PIA and other businesses control by the military.

I think there is light at the end of the tunnel; we all will have to pool resources and ideas.

Thanks once again for you input.

Posted 7 months ago on 24 Oct 2011 15:57 #
stingingnettle
Member

quaidkamazaar

I enjoyed your light-hearted suggestion but it does have a serious undertone. We need to work more and harder especially those who serve in Government offices.

Here is what I suggested; to mark an important birth, death or sporting victory we should work an extra day at the weekend.

You are right, too many strikes (many forced upon people) and many days off and very importantly, too short a working day for some whilst some in the private sector have to work late into the night to make ends meet.

Posted 7 months ago on 24 Oct 2011 16:05 #
sochopakistani
Member

*You need sincerity to level of deewangi.
*The first and foremost, elect educated, honest, visionary and committed leaders.
*Prepare a road map for next 30 years identifying challenges and opportunities.
*Improve relationship with neighbors
*Hire thorough professionals

Posted 7 months ago on 24 Oct 2011 17:56 #
salaudin
Member

The simplest answer to the topic question is to provide even playing field to everyone.
- I am from Karachi and the biggest hurdle I see for a youg entrepreneur is the mafias there. Even if they cut(bhatta) few hundred per day, it adds up to a lot for a business that has just started.
- Crime rate + Terrorism should be minimized as they scare the investors away.
- (indirectly related to first point) The "big fish" wants to swallow the small one, not through fair competition, but by through "other" sources.

Posted 7 months ago on 24 Oct 2011 19:29 #
stingingnettle
Member

salaudin

Thank you for your useful input.

I think without an even playing field it is perhaps next to impossible for small businesses to grow. The last thing someone who is starting a small business needs is distractions and hurdles such as bhatta and lawlessness. To state the obvious, but if you think about the beginnings of some hundreds of the big businesses such as Apple, Microsoft, facebook, 3M and Suzuki etc they all started small but today are giant names. To my mind this was due to two reasons; one there were some very smart individuals behind them but equally important these individuals were not distracted by anything not related to their business projects. Small business are the seeds that grow into big strong household names given the right environment. Pakistan needs to provide the best possible support to small businesses and stop wasting money on monstrosities like PIA etc.

How do you think the right conditions can be established for small businesses, say in a big city like Karachi?

Paying less bhatta is not a way forward, paying NO bhatta definitely is. I don't want to go into who is taking it but it has just got to stop if we want more jobs.

Posted 7 months ago on 24 Oct 2011 20:17 #
stingingnettle
Member

sochopakistani

Thank you very much for your comments.

You touch on some very rational but important parameters to get businesses going so that there can be jobs available for our young people.

You mention sincerity and I think you are right but the question is how? It's not going to happen on its own, the question is do have the germ of sincerity in our blood or are we just a bunch of selfish people who can think beyond our own self? Should the school system not be producing a crop of sincere individuals every year, is it not their job?

Good leadership is vital, I completely agree but even if the leader is not good but it lets businesses get on with their stuff, we may still be able to create jobs and prosperity. The difficulty is the when incompetent leadership interferes in matters they have little or no understanding of. There should be a mechanism to stop this. One way to do this that our banks have got to be independent of state control and must only be answerable to an independent State Bank of Pakistan. Government meddling in financial matters creates corruption and nepotism. I am not suggesting a non-regulated, free-for all banking system. I am rejecting meddling in banking affair by our armies of state ministers and their blue eyed cronies.

Meritocracy, it says without going is the cure for many ills, a bit like a multi-purpose antibiotic.

Posted 7 months ago on 24 Oct 2011 20:28 #
scandinavian
Member

As such a very good thread, and I am sure you also know that NO significant investment will come to Pakistan as long as the lotera tola is at the helm of affairs.

Provided we can get rid of these daku-tola, then there will be IMMENSE possibilities for Pakistan.

You have already mentioned that we have a workforce - both in the form hands and intelligent professionals. On top of that we have an immense capacity in the expat community. If a future government can make the right moves (incentives, infrastructure, electricity), then this group of app. 6 million people is able to bring both finances and/or new technology to to Pakistan.

I don't believe we should restrict Pakistansfuture development to a few industries. We have a wide range in knowledge and the rest can be acquired through expats and friendly nations.

Don't forget our IMMENSE natural resources. They alone can bring us very far from where we are now.

- Coal
- Gas
- Oil
- Copper
- Granite
- Gemstones
- Gold

AND a VERY fertile land, which only need a little bit of attention. Pakistan is already exporting a lot and I am sure Pakistan can export a lot more - IF they are able to use new knowledge and technology.

Get rid of the MAFIA and see how Pakistan develops!

Posted 7 months ago on 24 Oct 2011 20:37 #
stingingnettle
Member

Scandanavian;

Thank your for your positive input into this discussion.

You make regime change a prerequisite for industrial growth, investment and the creation of jobs, perhaps this is a reasonable conclusion. The difficulty I have with this is then economic growth will get chained to who rules us rather than how we are ruled. The question is not the lack of laws, it is their implementation that is not happening. We as a nation have not understood the connection between making laws and then obeying them. In other words, we are the champions of good intentions but we lack the will and the strength of character to flesh the bones of our good intentions. In short; we are only a talking shop; in a way like you and I, on pkpolitics.

You identify the expat Pakistani community correctly as a great asset and you rightly point out that they will only invest in the right environment. We in Pakistan need to understand that we can't eat our cake and have it too. If you need foreign investment, jobs and growth, we must provide solid generic conditions for businesses as opposed to bubbles that we provide now.

Pakistan is a hugely resourceful country, I agree completely but our resources mean little if the jobs and wealth created in their exploitation is not invested and spread justly in the whole country. This is a huge challenge because so far there doesn't seem to be the will or the national psyche which concentrates on the good of all as opposed to the narrow corrupt needs of a few. A gold mine is a gold mine if the glitter of this gold spreads widely and evenly across the land otherwise it's only a mountain of cold providing shade for a few.

Pakitan must concentrate on value-added quality products if is to engage it biggest resource, a young and vibrant population of workers, in a meaningful and productive manner. Producing more of the same stuff is not going bring prosperity it's going to create a glut in the market.

As I said, Pakistan's biggest resource can easily become its biggest headache if we do not act now.

Lastly;

How long can we afford to wait before the pyramid we have becomes inverted and crushes us all? It is the responsibility of every single Pakistani to avert this disaster and make sure that the youth today are employed in a meaningful and productive way and they are investing in and saving for their retirement and old age. This way we prevent the inverted pyramid effect.

I thank you once again for your comments.

Posted 7 months ago on 25 Oct 2011 17:01 #
sweettruth
Member

Very good thread

Posted 7 months ago on 25 Oct 2011 17:03 #
stingingnettle
Member

Sweettruth

Thanks for giving feedback;

We would like to hear your views and ideas too. How do we get on with the business of creating jobs?

Posted 7 months ago on 25 Oct 2011 17:07 #