Guiding Pakistan’s Youth Towards the Right Careers

Pakistan’s youth faces a career-guidance crisis that few are willing to acknowledge. From childhood, students are pushed into an educational race without being given a clear understanding of where it may lead. They are encouraged to obtain degrees, but rarely receive systematic advice about which fields match their abilities, interests and the changing demands of the labour market.

This is particularly alarming in a country with such a young population. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ 2023 Census, more than 24.15 million people are aged 15–19, 20.47 million are aged 20–24 and 17.97 million are aged 25–29. Together, these three groups account for about 62.6 million people aged 15–29, or roughly one-quarter of the population.

This enormous youth population represents both Pakistan’s greatest opportunity and one of its greatest challenges. If properly educated, skilled and guided, young people can drive economic growth, entrepreneurship, innovation and technological development. If neglected, the same demographic can face unemployment, underemployment, frustration and migration.

The labour market already shows signs of pressure. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ Labour Force Survey 2024–25 puts the overall unemployment rate at 7.1 per cent, while labour-force participation stands at 46.3 per cent.

The problem is not simply a shortage of educational institutions. It is the absence of a systematic mechanism that connects education, aptitude, skills and employment.

In many Pakistani households, career decisions remain concentrated around a few traditional professions. Medicine, engineering and the civil services are often regarded as the safest or most prestigious choices. A child’s interests, practical abilities and emerging labour-market opportunities may receive much less attention.

This creates a mismatch between education and employment. A student may spend years and considerable family resources obtaining a degree, only to discover after graduation that the qualification does not match his or her interests or the available opportunities.

Career counselling should therefore not begin when a student has already completed intermediate education. It should begin much earlier preferably at the middle-school level and continue throughout secondary, higher secondary and higher education.

A proper system would help students understand their strengths, personality, interests and learning abilities. It would expose them to professions beyond the conventional choices: information technology, data science, digital marketing, agriculture technology, renewable energy, environmental sciences, teaching, law, social sciences, design, skilled trades, entrepreneurship, healthcare technology and many other emerging occupations.

Pakistan also needs to challenge gender stereotypes in career selection. Girls should not automatically be directed towards medicine or teaching, while boys are pushed towards engineering or government employment. Career choices should be based on aptitude and aspiration rather than gender.

Pakistan does not have a single nationwide career-counselling system covering students from school to employment. Instead, several institutions provide parts of the service.

The Higher Education Commission has taken important steps at the university level. Its Youth Development Centres are designed to provide education and career counselling, skills-based education, internships, entrepreneurship support and employment-related services. HEC says operational offices have been established in 45 universities, with plans for a wider digital platform covering public-sector universities.

HEC has also promoted career counselling through university career development and placement centres. Its quality-assurance framework asks higher education institutions about career counselling centres, placement offices, staff, budgets and student use of these services.

The National Vocational and Technical Training Commission is another important actor. Its national skills policy recognises career counselling as a way to help students and trainees select trades and courses according to their abilities, interests and labour-market opportunities. NAVTTC also envisages career counselling centres linked with employment and job-placement services.

Provincial technical and vocational training authorities, universities, colleges, private educational institutions, NGOs and some private career-consultancy organisations also provide counselling. However, these initiatives remain fragmented and are often concentrated in major cities and better-resourced institutions.

This is where rural Pakistan faces a particular disadvantage. A student in Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad may have access to university career offices, career fairs, online platforms and professional counsellors. A student in a remote village may have little more than advice from parents, teachers, relatives or friends. The information gap can determine a young person’s entire future.