Work Under Covid-19

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The current times of pandemic expose workers in Pakistan to a great many of dangers. Those working in both formal and informal sectors risk loosing their incomes as well as jobs. As lockdowns hit the markets, businesses would be forced to shutdown, producing uncertainty for employees. In particular, informal sector, comprising 70 percent of economy in Pakistan, is precarious and vulnerable to shocks, as workers in this quarter are not entitled with any labour relief schemes. Similarly, those employed in authorized firms are not any immune to prevailing circumstances. They are prone to a greater casualisation of the workforce, for their employment is usually based on casual contracts offering little to no worker benefits. Above all, poor labour law enforcement, inadequate skill development schemes, and underdeveloped demand and supply side of labor market are supposed to add to the misery of the affected. On the firm's side, there are also concerns about macroeconomics, energy-related issues, and incomplete capital and financial market, which may become triggers behind a wave of unemployment. To make the matters worse, an already high poverty rate of 24 percent is expected to rise further, leaving workers in a multitude of perils. 

Thus, the state must come up with a scheme sensitive to the needs of labour force in the country, otherwise the pledge taken by the current government to add more jobs in the market will sound hollow.

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