THE general discussion around ‘Pakistani’s leaving Pakistan’ tends to assume that highly skilled and highly educated individuals are quick to “get out fast” lest the high cost-of-living, political uncertainties, and social insecurity bring them down, which may well be true to some extent.

However, arguably the largest segment of society that tries to make a break for it abroad is the unskilled labour force.

The country faces a complex problem when it comes to the labour force. First there’s the ‘too many people, not enough high-value jobs to go around’, but then you also have ‘too many people, not enough high-paying skills to make a comfortable living’.

Once upon a time countries like the UAE, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia used to be hubs for unskilled workers who would fly out and find any manner of jobs to earn foreign currency (still far more valuable than the rupee) and when all else failed, they’d beg.

However, times are changing and since the push for higher tech, more development, greater innovation is ever present, even these countries are looking for more highly-skilled labour to add value to their economies. Possibly this is why the government has decided to extend upto Rs1m to individuals traveling abroad for work. And since we’ve become increasingly remittance-dependent given the persistent inability to pull exports over imports, it’s probably a better idea for higher-skilled individuals to head out and land higher-paying jobs. In any case, the ratio of skilled to unskilled expats may begin to change in the coming years, if not for the government aid than the strict visa processing against unskilled workers.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, February 10th, 2025