Dear Editor,
The recent report on artificial intelligence reshaping Pakistan’s software industry deserves attention beyond the technology sector. According to a recent Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) report, entry-level hiring at major technology companies has fallen by around 25 percent, while employment among developers aged 22 to 25 has declined by nearly 20 percent since 2024. The report also found that entry-level freelance projects have fallen from about 15 percent of listings to below 9 percent.
These figures raise a question that deserves greater public discussion: if artificial intelligence reduces the routine tasks traditionally assigned to young employees, where will graduates gain the experience needed to become tomorrow’s senior professionals?
For decades, entry-level employment has been more than a source of income. It has been the first rung of the professional ladder. A junior employee learns through relatively simple assignments before gradually taking on more complex responsibilities. If companies increasingly use AI to perform these foundational tasks, young graduates may be expected to possess experience before they are given an opportunity to acquire it.
This does not mean Pakistan should resist AI. The technology offers significant opportunities as well. The challenge is whether our education and employment systems can adapt quickly enough.
Universities need to move beyond producing graduates who can merely recall information. Students must graduate with stronger analytical, communication, research, creative, and problem-solving abilities, alongside practical experience using emerging technologies. Employers, meanwhile, should consider redesigning entry-level positions so that AI removes repetitive work without removing opportunities for young workers to learn.
Pakistan’s National AI Policy 2025 reportedly aims to create three million AI-related jobs by 2030. Achieving such an ambition will require more than training people to operate new tools. It will require creating pathways through which inexperienced graduates can actually enter these professions and develop into experienced workers.
The question Pakistan faces is not whether AI will change the workplace. It already is.
The more important question is whether we will allow technology to remove the first rung of the career ladder or use it to build a better one.
Sincerely,
Zooha Indhar
Sukkur