Prime Minister Imran Khan, launched the National Job Portal in November 2020. The portal is an initiative of the PTI government under the umbrella of its Digital Transformation vision for Pakistan, which will help to deliver the promised creation of 10 million jobs.
The portal is expected to facilitate finding jobs for the large unemployed youth population of the country; linking aspiring candidates looking for a job with employers. More than 120 million or 60% of Pakistan’s rapidly growing population of 208 million is below the age of 35 years.
It is estimated that around 2 million jobs are created in Pakistan each year – many of which are unofficial or unreported. The tool is being developed and operated under National Vocational & Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), which is an apex body at the national level that looks after vocational and technical training in the country and develops policy direction in the area.
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Speaking to GVS, NAVTTC current Chairman Javed Hassan stated that “the objective of the employment exchange portal that incorporates the latest technologies of AI and user friendly search features is to transparently and efficiently match the diverse set of skills of jobseekers with the equally diverse but individually specific requirements of employers. Its adoption is expected to start with Federal Government Ministries and then rolled throughout voluntarily by all who can benefit from it, including the private sector.”
How will it operate
The National Job Portal tool will have a consortium of public, private as well as overseas institutions and governments looking for potential employees. Public institutions such as Establishment division, information ministry, PPSC, provincial PSC, CPEC Authority will also be posting jobs on the portal and the aim is over time all government jobs should be posted on this removing the need for government to buy expensive classified ads in print media.
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Overseas employment opportunities will be identified and posted by Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD), Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment (BOE), OverSeas Employment Corporation (OEC) and Pakistan Overseas Employment Promoters Association (POEPA). The aspirants need to follow a 4-steps procedure to make a profile. The four steps will be:
• Register Your Account
• Complete Your Resume/CV
• Search for Job
• Apply for Dream Job
The NJP is equipped with a special Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool, once a potential candidate uploads their resume on the portal, this will be used to match the candidate’s profile with the relevant job. This AI tool will also improve the portal’s efficiency in identifying international standard competencies, required for overseas jobs, in a given resume.
Who will it cover
The portal is designed for connecting skilled labor with hiring employers. An existing database of 0.5 million Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates will be connected to NJP under the program. They have qualifications ranging from electricity and energy skills to accounting skills to database and network design skills.
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This database will be beefed up by the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) initiative of NAVTTC. According to the RPL initiative 50,000 informal graduates coming out of apprenticeship (Ustad-Shagird) system will be assessed and awarded with appropriate certificates. 9,882 certificates have already been awarded in response to 16,781 applications received, rest of the applications are under consideration.
Apart from this, NAVTTC is also working on ‘Development of 200 Qualifications’ program. Applicants that have passed these will also be added to the portal. Under this initiative, a constituted Qualification Development Committee defines the competency standards upon which qualification is further refined. It ensures that quality standards are maintained from those graduating, which is crucial to ensure employers are not disappointed.
NAVTTC is also engaged with international partners, including UK NARIC, New Zealand TEV, and ASEAN accrediting body, to ensure international standard qualifications are issued. Competency Standard for 50 qualifications have been developed and work is underway on 17 other qualifications.
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These qualifications include Internet of Things (IOT), Networking and Cloud Computing, etc. 50,000 people are to be trained in these hi-tech trades, 16,810 have already started the training. This will help better-equipped candidates to be a part of the database and hence the market.
How are employers getting on board?
TVET has developed National Vocational Qualifications Framework (NVQF) and Competency-Based Training & Assessment (CBT&A) over the years with the help of the European Union and the government of Germany, Netherlands, and Norway which further raises its credibility and robust skills its programs can inculcate in the labor.
The workforce in this database will get replenished by candidates under training from TVET certified institutes or coming in through RPL initiative of NAVTTC. Apart from this, a sophisticated AI tool linked with NJP increases efficiency of the process thus creating ease for the employers, especially the ones coming from the private sector.
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Over time, Government agencies will become liable to post all jobs on the NJP portal and given the facilities provided, it is anticipated that private-sector employers will later join in to cash the skills-rich pool of labor and IT based transparent process of hiring.
How is it different from other online work portals
NJP is different from its private-sector competitors (such as Rozee.pk) in a number of ways. First of all, it has its own database of highly skilled labor supported by TVET. Secondly, all the public entities and the departments dealing with overseas employment will start posting their jobs on the NJP portal, making it an opportunity-rich platform for job seekers.
Finally, it is backed by a hi-tech AI tool which matches the competencies possessed by a certain candidate to those required for a certain job posted, ultimately leading to employer satisfaction.