World Bank report highlights issues for Pakistan’s labour force
Says increasing population, significant barriers to expansion of SMEs threaten growth
PHOTO: APP
LAHORE:
Pakistan will need to tackle the triple challenge of creating enough jobs for its growing labour force, improving access to jobs and economic opportunities especially for women, and improving the quality and productivity of jobs to meet challenges, the World Bank said on Friday.
Due to continuously high fertility rates, the country's working-age population is expected to grow at 2.1% per annum for the next decade, the World Bank said in its report titled 'Jobs and Entrepreneurship in Pakistan'.
Activists call for enforcing child labour laws
However, the report highlighted entrepreneurship as an important avenue in meeting the challenges, through more productive self-employment, a more vibrant small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector, and a greater opportunity for women and youth. The challenge is to help those self-employed or potential entrepreneurs who aspire to grow by helping them overcome the barriers to growth.
The report said that labour force participation in Pakistan remains low, primarily due to low levels of female labour force participation, which is 57% lower than that of males and especially low in urban areas.
"The share of growth-oriented entrepreneurship is still low in Pakistan," it said, adding that "while there is no perfect metric for defining growth entrepreneurship vis-à-vis necessity entrepreneurs, only 1% of the employed are employers, i.e. those entrepreneurs who employ others." The report said that this share is only slightly higher in urban areas.
"Women represent just 2% of all employers, a negligible share, and only 14% of own-account workers."
It said that Pakistan's formal private sector is quite small. "The low prevalence of employers among the self-employed is consistent with the low entry of firms, especially in the formal private sector, which is very small, accounting for only 6% of all employed". More than a third of those participating in the labour force are self-employed, and the share of self-employed youth (aged 15-24 years) is 18% compared to 41% for adults.
"Entry to the formal private sector appears to be limited, with just 4,830 new limited liability companies established in 2014. This corresponds to a rate of just 0.04 new companies per 100,000 people; the lowest among comparable countries," the report said.
Labour activists decry exploitation of workforce
"There are significant barriers to growth in SMEs, while information on private sector firms in Pakistan is very limited; the existing data suggests that there are substantial constraints to the ability of entrepreneurs to grow their businesses."
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2017.
Pakistan will need to tackle the triple challenge of creating enough jobs for its growing labour force, improving access to jobs and economic opportunities especially for women, and improving the quality and productivity of jobs to meet challenges, the World Bank said on Friday.
Due to continuously high fertility rates, the country's working-age population is expected to grow at 2.1% per annum for the next decade, the World Bank said in its report titled 'Jobs and Entrepreneurship in Pakistan'.
Activists call for enforcing child labour laws
However, the report highlighted entrepreneurship as an important avenue in meeting the challenges, through more productive self-employment, a more vibrant small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector, and a greater opportunity for women and youth. The challenge is to help those self-employed or potential entrepreneurs who aspire to grow by helping them overcome the barriers to growth.
The report said that labour force participation in Pakistan remains low, primarily due to low levels of female labour force participation, which is 57% lower than that of males and especially low in urban areas.
"The share of growth-oriented entrepreneurship is still low in Pakistan," it said, adding that "while there is no perfect metric for defining growth entrepreneurship vis-à-vis necessity entrepreneurs, only 1% of the employed are employers, i.e. those entrepreneurs who employ others." The report said that this share is only slightly higher in urban areas.
"Women represent just 2% of all employers, a negligible share, and only 14% of own-account workers."
It said that Pakistan's formal private sector is quite small. "The low prevalence of employers among the self-employed is consistent with the low entry of firms, especially in the formal private sector, which is very small, accounting for only 6% of all employed". More than a third of those participating in the labour force are self-employed, and the share of self-employed youth (aged 15-24 years) is 18% compared to 41% for adults.
"Entry to the formal private sector appears to be limited, with just 4,830 new limited liability companies established in 2014. This corresponds to a rate of just 0.04 new companies per 100,000 people; the lowest among comparable countries," the report said.
Labour activists decry exploitation of workforce
"There are significant barriers to growth in SMEs, while information on private sector firms in Pakistan is very limited; the existing data suggests that there are substantial constraints to the ability of entrepreneurs to grow their businesses."
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2017.