Workforce: Train, retain, and reverse the brain drain

LAHORE: Lack of skilled human resource is one of the major impediments in investment particularly by overseas Pakistanis who are interested in establishing state-of-art modern industrial units in the country. The exodus of skilled workers abroad is compounding the problem.

Jobs for many skills are still available in Pakistan, despite the current economic crisis. In-house training is the major source of imparting skills among workers. Majority of existing unemployed workforce lacks education needed for simple in-house training. The tragedy is that around 59.2 percent of the unemployed persons in Pakistan are illiterate.

The poor quality of our human resources is evident from the fact 33.3 percent of the entire workforce has only one year of schooling, while 70 percent of the workers have, on average, only 8 years of education. We do not have many qualified engineers, experts, or workers.

We lack workers with mid-level skills that form the bulk of the workforce in developed and emerging economies. Germans prepare their children for mid level skills from class six. They join workforce after completing secondary school and many go on to attain top positions in their companies by passing periodic exams during their service.

Unfortunately, schools in Pakistan impart skill training. The technical and vocational training schools in Pakistan are scant. Around 1.3 percent of the population in the 14-19 years age group is presently enrolled in vocational and training institutes. The average enrollment of same age group in OECD countries is 35-60 percent, while even in Asia Pacific it is 6-20 percent.

Even those few skill training institutes, managed by the state, still provide training in skills that have become obsolete.

Some institutes have upgraded their training programs according to the current requirements of the job market, but there is still no permanent mechanism in place to review job market requirements periodically.

Skilled workforce of desired quality in apparel-making is still not produced by the technical and vocational institutes in the country. Most companies fulfill their skilled labor force needs through in-house training.

There is a vast scope of investment in new apparel units but the main hindrance in this regard is the non-availability of highly skill cutters, designers, and stitchers.

The big textile industrialists have realised the importance of apparel-making units to boost their businesses; however, they started from low production and attained maturity through years of in-house training.

To ensure sustained growth they had to engage Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis for the high-skill and supervisory jobs. But the real growth in value-added textile would come with adequate availability of skilled indigenous workforce.

Most of the technical and vocational institutes usually offer training of low value engineering skills. The training in CAD CAM or computer aided designing and manufacturing technology for making precision moulds and dyes has recently been started.

Naturally the low skilled engineering workforce cannot produce high-value added engineering products. Still there is a scarcity of even low skilled engineering workers. Workers that are imparted any engineering skills do get employment and their enrollment should be increased along with high-skill training.

The problem with low skilled engineering workforce is that it moves out to the Gulf countries as soon as they succeed in getting jobs there.

But more than that Pakistan is also facing the curse of brain drain as a most of the highly skilled and educated Pakistanis are aspiring to leave the recession affected country to earn decent living abroad. This is in contrast to India where “reverse brain drain” is on rise.

The exodus of the top level minds is also known as “the human capital flight”. It can be simply defined as the mass emigration of technically skilled people from one country to another.

Brain drain can have many reasons, for example political instability of a nation, lack of opportunities, health risks, personal conflicts etc.

All the factors that encourage brain drain are dominant in Pakistan. The country simply does not have the capability to absorb thousands of engineers, doctors, pharmacists, etc who enter the job market every year. Besides this issue, Pakistan is also suffering from ‘brain waste’.

Highly skilled value-added textile workers that have been thrown out of jobs due to recession are now working as three wheel operators. Similarly skilled carpet artisans are working in unskilled labour markets as they cannot find work in weaving. Qualified doctors are joining civil services leaving their profession for good because the chances of promotion in that cadre are brighter.

The government will have to train, retain, and maintain the skilled workforce on top of reversing the brain drain if it wants to give this economy a leg up.