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Over 31 percent of the country’s graduated youth is currently unemployed, revealed a report on the employment situation released by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics. Lack of Senior Management and Senior Citizens’ dislike of promoting the brightest Pakistanis to top positions, which they feel threatened. Over 60 Pakistanis do not let talented people from age 20 to 55 come to top positions in all types of companies and institutes in Pakistan. 92,000 highly educated youngsters including physicians, engineers, information technology specialists, and accountants were also included in this year’s report. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia received the majority of them.
Pakistan has lost 7,000 engineers, 25,000 physicians, 1,600 nurses, 2,000 computer professionals, 6,500 accountants, 2,600 agricultural experts, and 9,00 teachers due to this brain drain this year.
Continuous political unrest, nepotism, army interference, and deepening economic difficulties have been the main reasons. Thousands of highly educated and professional persons have been forced to leave Pakistan due to the country’s continuous political unrest and deepening economic difficulties.
Pakistan is in danger of losing its productive human capital as progressively intelligent and skilled people are saying goodbye and never paying heed to return to their own country. The term brain drain refers to the departure of people with the highest levels of education, experience, and professionals in the quest for higher income, better living standards, access to vanguard technology, and more stable socio-economic-political environments in various parts of the world. Additionally, it has adverse effects on the origin country inclusive of all sectors either education, health systems, or economy.
Brain drain is triggered by globalization, and transnational corporations (TNCs) and often favors the economies that use these people to fill skill shortages. The central aim of this article is to explore the reasons for the departure of highly skilled and talented people from Pakistan. Due to its multisectoral impacts, this is a crucial issue for future investors and policymakers.
According to the document of the Bureau of Immigration, this year alone saw a 300 percent spike in the country’s brain drain with as many as 765,000 people leaving Pakistan for a better life overseas.
Thousands of highly educated and professional persons have been forced to leave Pakistan due to the country’s continuous political unrest and deepening economic difficulties. According to the document of the Bureau of Immigration, this year alone saw a 300 percent spike in the country’s brain drain with as many as 765,000 people leaving Pakistan for a better life overseas.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Malaysia, China, Japan, Turkey, Sudan, Romania, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Greece, and Italy were chosen by Pakistani specialists this year for the prospects over these countries.
The results have shown that approximately 40,000 kids had traveled to Europe and other Asian nations while over 730,000 of the youth had gone to the Gulf States. The statistics have indicated that 470,000 Pakistanis left for Saudi Arabia for work followed by 119,000 for the United Arab Emirates, 77,000 for Oman, 51,634 for Qatar, and 2,000 for Kuwait.
We have heard it often enough at dinner tables and formal discussions about Pakistan’s youth and one issue is brought up repeatedly – Pakistan’s brain drain. With 63% of this 220 million people country under the age of 30, the brain drain represents a significant proportion of the population and their resentment to leave Pakistan which in turn mirrors a deeply flawed system where Pakistan is unable to retain and utilize its best talent.
While there may be different reasons for the youth to reach its full potential in Pakistan, some of which include lack of opportunity, tough circumstances, an unforgiving environment, or unsupportive parents. Looking at the numbers, around nine million Pakistanis currently work abroad which includes both skilled and unskilled labor as well as students going abroad for their undergrad or graduate studies.
Thus it is not surprising when we hear the remark, Pakistan “mein reh k kya Karo gay” (what will you do if you remain in Pakitan). These remarks are a sobering reminder of the deep resentment and mistrust of the opportunities in one’s homeland if Pakistan were able to utilize its best talent it could become an industrial powerhouse in the area and help with some deep-seated issues such as the balance of payment and the import-export issues.
While the recent investment of two major companies namely, Kleiner Perkins and Nestle, are promising signs of a hopeful future as well as the Serie A funding secured by young Pakistani college graduates, it still goes a long way towards addressing the issues that would (partially) stop the brain drain.
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