The stark image of over 2.4 million applications submitted for a mere 36,000 government vacancies in Punjab is a reflection of the desperation in which a generation of citizens finds itself. Unemployment is a nationwide problem, but according to official date, Punjab, in particular, is witnessing an alarming rise in unemployment that threatens to infect the national economic ecosystem because of the province’s size and economic significance.
The root of this crisis is twofold. First is Punjab’s raw size. With about 130 million residents, Punjab has a population comparable in size to Mexico, which is the 10th most populous country in the world. A population this large requires consistent high job creation and resources to sustain it, both of which the government and private sector have failed to provide. Second is the national economic downturn which has led to an overall slump in job creation, which is most pronounced for highly-educated youngsters. While the overall unemployment rate is 6.3%, the rate for educated youth exceeds 31%.
Government budget documents also say that there is a severe skills mismatch, which contributes to this problem and also illustrates why the brain drain crisis is so difficult to address – young men and women must seek out work abroad because there are barely any local jobs matching their qualifications. At the same time, even the jobs that are being created are not being filled efficiently. Despite there being over 3,000 vacant posts in Punjab, several hundred have still not been advertised, meaning that the work to fill them cannot start.
The same is true for other provinces too, but while these smaller provinces lack Punjab’s economic clout, their representatives in the parliament can still use their influence in either house to disrupt business and force the government to offer more comprehensive and clear solutions to create the right kind of jobs and stimulate economic activity or, at the very least, mininise harm.
