{
  "id": 3384667,
  "title": "Training yesterday’s workers for tomorrow’s jobs",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/training-yesterdays-workers-for-tomorrows-jobs",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-25T23:57:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Recorder",
    "slug": "business-recorder",
    "url": "https://www.brecorder.com/news/40436535/training-yesterdays-workers-for-tomorrows-jobs"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Pakistan's inauguration of its inaugural National Youth Employment Policy arrives at a critical juncture. The International Labour Organization (ILO) disclosed that global youth unemployment had escalated to 12.4 percent in 2025, affecting 67 million individuals aged 15 to 24, and over 257 million who were neither employed nor engaged in education or training. Crucially, the ILO highlighted a fundamental shift: conventional entry-level jobs are vanishing alongside the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies reshaping the skills demanded by employers. Accurate data is indispensable for governments to prepare young people for an evolving labor market they do not fully comprehend. While the ILO acknowledges the potential correlation between AI and rising unemployment, it cautions against drawing definitive conclusions at this stage.\n\nHistorically, office and administrative positions, sales roles, and manufacturing jobs have served as the initial entry points for young workers into the workforce. However, these traditional sectors are now dwindling. Pakistan must pinpoint precisely which jobs are declining, which new positions are emerging, and the requisite skills for these emerging roles. For Pakistan, this warning is particularly grave. The nation's vast youth population is frequently touted as a demographic dividend, yet this asset can only yield benefits when youth are healthy, educated, skilled, and productively employed. Pakistan continues to grapple with widespread child malnutrition, high poverty, illiteracy, rapid population growth, and a substantial out-of-school population. Without substantial enhancements in human capital, this burgeoning youth demographic could instead fuel unemployment, social discontent, and economic instability. Consequently, Pakistan's new employment policy warrants support, particularly its focus on technology, skills development, and increased female participation. Initiatives such as sending selected students abroad for specialized training, fostering startups, and broadening access to education can yield significant benefits. Nevertheless, the magnitude of Pakistan's challenge surpasses what any combination of scholarships, laptops, Chromebooks, or new schools can address. These programs might assist thousands or even hundreds of thousands, but Pakistan must equip millions of young people for a labor market undergoing rapid transformation. This necessitates a fundamental reevaluation of education and skills policies. Pakistan urgently requires a nationwide network of well-equipped polytechnic and vocational institutions offering training aligned with market demands across domains such as electrical and mechanical trades, industrial technology, electronics, coding, digital services, automation, and other employable skills. Incorporating AI literacy into this system is crucial, enabling young individuals to adeptly navigate emerging technologies rather than succumbing to discovering post-training that technology has eclipsed the jobs they were trained for. The private sector must also play a pivotal role. Training programs solely crafted by government bureaucracies risk yielding qualifications for which employers exhibit limited demand. Industry stakeholders should collaborate in determining curricula, identifying emerging skill gaps, and offering apprenticeships to ensure technical education remains linked to genuine employment opportunities. Crucially, labor-market data must continuously inform this system as technology reshapes work dynamics. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's emphasis on youth employment as a focal point of the policy is thus justified. However, the government must acknowledge the scale of the challenge ahead. Pakistan is endeavoring to educate and employ one of the world's largest young populations amidst AI's disruption of the conventional route from education to employment. A generation cannot be prepared for yesterday's economy and subsequently criticized for failing to secure tomorrow's jobs. The National Youth Employment Policy will only yield meaningful results if it represents the inception of a comprehensive, broader human-capital emergency program. Pakistan's demographic clock is already accelerating, and technology has expedited its ticking.",
  "summary": "EDITORIAL: Pakistan’s launch of its first National Youth Employment Policy could hardly have come at a more consequential moment. On the same day, the International Labour Organization reported that global youth unemployment rose to 12.4 percent in 2025, leaving 67 million people aged 15 to 24 without work, while more than 257 million were neither employed nor in education or training. More…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}