Comment by Riaz Haq on August 22, 2022 at 9:37am

If you like IT, put a ring on IT
The recent fall in IT exports, Pakistan’s great new hope, is a reality check posing a number of biting questions for the industry and authorities


https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/07/31/if-you-like-it-put-a...


“What gave India the respect that they are interacting with the world today? It was their IT industry, which is why you people (Pakistani IT industry) are extra important,” Abdul Razak Dawood, the then Adviser for Commerce and Investment, said in January while praising the industry in his address to the Board of Investment (BOI) IT roundtable conference.

The optimism from back then may have fallen flat in recent times as IT exports and services for May 2022 were recorded at $189 million – decreasing by 27% compared to April 2022 and 8% from May 2021. The final numbers are still awaited, but the financial year 2021-22’s export target for the sector, around $3.7 billion, is likely to be missed by a massive $1 billion.

Many experts anticipated the end of what has been a dream run for the IT sector, primarily because of the unstable rupee and demand slowdown in the two key markets of North America and Europe.

“The post-Covid boom in the IT sector was partly because central banks across jurisdictions printed money and governments announced schemes to promote business activity. This led to demand creation, which translated into greater interest in the country’s IT sector by foreign businesses,” Asad Ghauri, President Asia-Pacific, and Group MD Europe at NetSol Technologies Inc, told Profit.

“Now, the focus is on contractionary measures, and as the funding dries up, demand is likely to plunge, resulting in a difficult next few months for the industry.” Ghauri added.

However, the industry has a consensus on the issue that these temporary jitters can do some permanent damage if the structural and policy flaws of the sector are not addressed.

IT sector treated like a stepchild?

The reservations of the industry stem from the lack of policy continuity and initiative by the government. An example is the reversal of the tax-exempt status of the sector in March 2021.

“IT industry, unlike traditional industries, operates differently. Changing the tax regime in the mid of the fiscal year, despite the original commitment till 2025, creates not only uncertainty and a state of panic about inconsistent policies but also raises questions about the understanding of the government about the gravity of the situation of how it will jeopardize the growth,” Pakistan Software House Association said in a statement on their website.

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 26, 2023 at 10:48am

The Philippines, India and Pakistan are the top three countries in terms of the number of workers being hired in the Asia-Pacific region, said a new report.

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/jobs/uae-jobs-indian-pakistani-filipin...


According to Deel’s State of Global Hiring Report released on Tuesday, Australia, Singapore, and India are the top three countries in the Asia-Pacific region where organisations were hiring last year. At the same time, Australia, Hong Kong and India were the fastest-growing countries for hiring new employees in the region.

In the UAE, Indian and Pakistani nationals account for the largest number of people among all expatriate communities. There are around 3.5 million Indian nationals, 1.7 million Pakistanis and 650,000 Filipinos employed in different public and private sectors nationwide.


The Deel study revealed that software engineering, sales and products were in the highest demand roles in Asia-Pacific.

In terms of salaries, Taiwan, Thailand, and South Korea saw the biggest average salary gains across all jobs.

Deel’s State of Global Hiring Report data is based on over 260,000 contracts and 15,000-plus customers across more than 160 countries, as well as over 500,000 data points from third-party sources, including Microverse. All countries, states, and cities in the report have at least 50 worker contracts on file as of December 2022.

Globally, hiring sustained its momentum throughout the year, as 89 per cent of all contracts were for remote roles. Many companies looked abroad to optimise talent costs.

Professor Samuel Dahan, chairman of Deel Lab for Global Employment, said average starting salaries for the role in content creation, operations and fiancé increased the most in the Philippines, India and Brazil.

While compensation rates also fell worldwide for new workers for the roles of accountants, customer support agents, consultants, designers and software engineers

Due to instability in the cryptocurrencies, Deel said, workers, lost some interest in receiving payments in cryptocurrencies.

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