AN ASSESSMENT OF LABOUR FORCE DISTRIBUTION ACROSS MAJOR CITIES IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

In Pakistan, studies mainly explored the determinants of migration ignoring its effect on the local labor market which may vary depending on the characteristics of the native vs. migrant workforce. The paper is, therefore, an attempt to examine the composition of labor force (migrant vs. native) in fourteen major cities of Pakistan by time and education attainment, specifically, the demographic and educational structure of the native and migrant workforce. The paper also estimates the growth in the workforce - native vs. migrant. The current study has examined the changes that occurred in educational attainment by using a demographic framework. The study has analyzed the net changes that occurred over the period on the basis of specific characteristics and decomposed it into the contribution of different age groups, for instance, young labor, workers who recently immigrated, prime-age workers and also the workers with old age. Here the components based on age have been estimated and compared to the situation of so-called “pseudo age cohorts” for 2007-08 and 2012-13, respectively. The study's finding reveals that migration of unskilled labor was higher in Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Multan, Peshawar and Quetta. However, the skilled migrant is higher in cities like Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. Further, the growth in young workers (new entrants) is highest in Quetta (24%) and is lowest in Rawalpindi (4%). It is concluded that the natives who live in the host city can be benefited as long as there exists a difference in their educational attainment. However, the residents (natives) gain if their educational level matches with the immigrants while the residents or natives lose if they attain a similar educational level to the immigrants.