Pakistan must strengthen the link between skills development and labour market demand to prepare its youth for a changing world of work shaped by digitalisation, artificial intelligence, climate change and demographic shifts, participants at a high-level roundtable marking World Youth Skills Day said.
The roundtable, titled “Skills for a Shared Future,” was convened by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) and the British Council. It focused on how Pakistan’s skills system can better equip young people for emerging employment opportunities.
The call comes as 28.4 percent of young people in Pakistan remain outside employment, education or training. According to the Pakistan Labour Force Survey 2024–25, the country has an estimated 46.3 million young people aged between 15 and 24. Of these, 20.6 million are participating in the labour force, while 2.6 million are unemployed.
The youth unemployment rate stands at 12.8 percent, almost twice the overall unemployment rate of 7.1 percent. Although the share of young people outside employment, education or training has declined from 32.5 percent in 2020–21, more than one in four young people remain disconnected from pathways that can help them acquire skills, find jobs and contribute to the economy.
The Labour Force Survey estimates that 4.9 million young people aged 15–24 have received technical or vocational training, including 3.0 million young men and 1.9 million young women. Participants said the figures showed the reach of existing training programmes as well as the need to expand access, particularly for young women, and ensure that training leads to sustainable employment.
Geir Tonstol, Director of the ILO Country Office for Pakistan, said Pakistan needed a training ecosystem that kept pace with industry, supported innovation and prepared young people for jobs emerging today.
“Strengthening collaboration between government, industry and development partners is essential to ensure that skills investments translate into higher employability, greater productivity and stronger economic growth,” he said.
The discussion centred on practical reforms to build a more inclusive, demand-driven and future-ready technical and vocational education and training system. Participants stressed the need for stronger collaboration between training providers and industry, improved use of labour-market information and closer alignment between skills investments and sectors capable of generating productive employment.
Ahmed Khan, Chief Executive Officer of the Punjab Skills Development Fund, said skills development must respond not only to AI, digitalisation and the green transition, but also to structural constraints affecting enterprises and workers.
“Productivity, innovation and decent work must be at the centre of the national skills agenda. When productivity rises, enterprises become more competitive, workers can earn better wages and economies grow more sustainably,” he added.
Ben Lawton, Deputy Director, British Council Pakistan, said the British Council was committed to supporting young people with the skills and confidence required to succeed in an evolving global landscape.
“By combining essential human skills such as communication, creativity and critical thinking with digital and green competencies, we can help create pathways to employment, innovation and lifelong learning for Pakistan’s youth,” he said.
The roundtable also called for greater investment in lifelong learning to enable workers to update their skills throughout their careers as technologies and labour-market needs evolve. Participants discussed a national skills passport as a possible mechanism to recognise workers’ existing competencies and improve mobility between employers, sectors and countries.
On the sidelines of the event, PSDF and the ILO signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen cooperation on skills development, labour-market research, institutional capacity-building and policy dialogue.
The partnership will support joint efforts to promote future-ready skills, strengthen school-to-work transitions and advance decent-work opportunities for women and men in Punjab.
