ISLAMABAD: The decision about what career to opt for is often a tough choice, but knowing what jobs are in demand and how the future markets will look like could help making an informed decision.

According to a new report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) artificial learning and machine learning specialists, sustainability specialists, business intelligence analysts, information security analysts, fintech engineers, data analysts and scientists, robotics engineers, electrotechnology engineers, agriculture equipment operators and digital transformation specialists are the 10 fastest growing jobs around the world.

The report, “Future of Jobs Report 2023”, published on Monday, outlined the changing landscape of employment, emerging trends, technologies and skills required for the workforce in the coming years.

The report identified several global trends and technologies that could impact Pakistan’s job market, such as digital platforms and apps, big-data analytics and education and workforce development technologies.

New WEF report puts Pakistan’s working-age population at 85.78m

According to the report, the jobs that are fast going out of demand include bank tellers and related clerks, postal service clerks, cashiers and ticket clerks, data entry clerks, administration and executive secretaries, material recording and stock-keeping clerks, accountants, bookkeeping and payroll clerks, legislators and officials, statistical, finance and insurance clerks, door-to-door sales workers and street vendors.

The report predicted that given the changing trends in emerging job markets, 23 per cent of jobs were expected to change by 2027, with 69 million new jobs created and 83m eliminated.

The green transition and localisation of supply chains will lead to net job growth.

The report estimated that cognitive skills such as analytical and creative thinking will be the most important for workers in 2023 and the next five years.

Most companies will focus on AI and big data for their skills strategies.

The report highlighted that the working-age population in Pakistan was around 85.78m, making up a vast pool of potential talent.

Pakistan’s workforce strategy outlook reveals a mixed picture, while there was a 41pc expectation

of talent availability improvement, there was also a 24pc expectation of worsening talent retention for the existing workforce.

The country’s labour force participation rate stood at 57 per cent, with 55pc of the workforce in vulnerable employment. The unemployment rate remained relatively low at five per cent.

Amir Jahangir, the CEO of Mishal Pakistan, a WEF partner institute, said Pakistan can plug its human capital into the global job market, but there was a need to focus on strengthening the education system, investing in vocational training and nurturing a culture of innovation.

Saadia Zahidi, the WEF managing director, said the job market remained uncertain in the past three years due to several factors such as Covid-19, geopolitics and economic shifts. The advancement in AI and other technologies has added risks to many professions, but the good news is that there is a clear way forward as governments and businesses are investing in the transition towards the jobs of the future, she said in a statement.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2023