Can IT Pull Pakistan into the 21st Century?

The job market in Pakistan, generally, tends to fluctuate due to variations in Government policies that can have an adverse, knock-on effect on the job market and deteriorating law and order in certain parts of the country can prevent investors from even thinking about investing in industry – all of which results in lost job opportunities, not just in the IT field in Pakistan, but right across the board, in all job sectors. Global news reports of bomb blasts and ever increasing violence in certain districts of Pakistan continue to give the country a bad name. This is bound to have an adverse effect on the economy of Pakistan as many of the biggest potential investors are based in the US and, if their money is not deemed safe due to threats of violence,

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investors will simply go elsewhere. As a result, Pakistan remains marginalized in a developing world and, one of the first fields that are going to suffer as a result of this is the IT field in Pakistan.

Another factor affecting economy growth in Pakistan is the state of the electricity outrages. One of the largest sectors within Pakistan’s current economy is the industrial sector and, whenever the electricity supply has downtime, industry is detrimentally affected – and this ultimately has dire consequences on the overall economy of Pakistan. Since the industrial sector employs the largest number of Pakistan’s workforce, their livelihood is threatened. Moreover, established industry cannot possibly be sustained in the face of such frequent shutdowns on the power grid. This will eventually result in established industrial companies in Pakistan deteriorating and having to shed jobs, culminating in a further increase to the prevailing unemployment ratio. The overall impact on the Pakistan job market is dire and, if these power cuts continue, it can only get worse. This is hardly conducive to the development of the IT field in Pakistan.

Nevertheless, on a more positive note, the current global recession has paved the way for new employment opportunities as major World leaders in business seek to find alternative ways to stave off further down-turns in the market. This has provided major opportunities for outsourcing and off-shoring – both of which have had excellent connotations for the IT field in Pakistan: an unsought opportunity that has fallen into the lap of Pakistan’s IT freelancers! This amazing opportunity is now a burgeoning marketplace for freelancers to maximize their skills and sell their expertise to the global marketplace. Working from home in the IT field in Pakistan is becoming a way for those with the knowledge and wherewithal to surmount the difficulties with unemployment in an uncertain job market and bring much-needed resources into a country that desperately needs such an influx of income.

Just a quick click online to one single website called Line O Work revealed 15 jobs currently available: genuine jobs in the IT field in Pakistan. So, the jobs are there – albeit, not very many of them. There are many factors, however, that will simply have to change if Pakistan is to take its rightful place amongst the global economy and, the most secure and enduring way for the IT field in Pakistan to flourish is for industry in Pakistan, in general, to be able to develop and not be hampered by the continuing political stakes in the country that are adversely and detrimentally affecting its people.