False promises

In the race to outdo one another, major political parties have been trying to lure the country’s voters with their job creation plans — the more outlandish the better. From Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s 10 million jobs to Pakistan Peoples Party’s one state job for each household which would mean 30 million jobs across the country over a period of five years. Such fairytales may have a place in the popular imagination but it would be naïve to expect any political party to pull this off even they were earnest about it. A manifesto that promises so many employment opportunities is daft, misleading and hugely fictional.

The truth about job creation is starkly different as it is complex. The country needs to create at least 1.3 million additional jobs every year — a compulsion necessitated by the rapid increase in the number of people attaining working age. This trend is likely to continue for the next two decades. Currently, our electorate must understand that the formal sector just does not have the capacity of generating millions of job opportunities. One day perhaps but certainly not now. To meet the demands of young people eligible or even ready to enter the workforce, there must be consistent growth in employment creation.

Jobs can be made available if the authorities succeed in adopting a coherent strategy at the provincial and district levels across multiple sectors as well as draw up clear ut realistic annual targets. A key challenge for generating employment is to ensure that better living standards are kept and maintained.

There are also other sound measures that need to be taken. The new government will have to find deft ways to expand the formal sector, encourage entrepreneurship, build the capital of youth as well as the labour market. Both urban and rural centres would have to serve as hubs in that massive effort.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2018.

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