# Pakistan

Alumni Skills Accelerator


## Accelerator Impact

Pakistan’s Skills Accelerator – Parwaaz –  singled out the six priority sectors that are best positioned to drive employment growth, but will also be affected by technological change.Organized in industry-level councils, 40 of the country’s largest employers identified 129 occupations that require reskilling, upskilling and new skilling. Sector-level skills incubators in ICT, financial services and textiles trained and helped 1,000 Pakistani youth find gainful employment. Estimates suggest that the programme could engage 200 large and 300 small-to-medium enterprises across key sectors in Pakistan and help them target and upgrade their reskilling efforts for approximately 3 million workers.


## Accelerator Story

Pakistan’s Skills Accelerator (“Parwaaz”) was launched in July 2019 in partnership with the Punjab Skills Development Fund to strengthen the country’s workforce readiness for the future of work.At its inception, over 40 of Pakistan’s largest employers collaborated to assess sector-level shifts in labour demand, mapping emerging and declining roles. This exercise identified 129 occupations requiring reskilling, upskilling or new skilling, helping to close critical information gaps and generate insights for both public and private stakeholders.Strategic sector focusParwaaz concentrated on six sectors positioned to drive future economic growth while undergoing rapid technological change: ICT, financial services, textiles, retail and services, manufacturing, and agriculture.Industry-level councils — inspired by the guild systems of Germany and Switzerland — were established to guide workforce strategy and coordinate private sector action.Sector-based skills incubatorsBetween 2020 and 2021, council members launched skills incubator pilots in ICT, financial services and textiles to equip young Pakistanis for the identified priority roles.In the first year, 1,000 youth completed training and secured employment in roles including:Full stack developers, data scientists and e-commerce specialists (ICT)Cybersecurity specialists, data analysts and digital compliance professionals (financial services)Data analysts, 3D designers and CAD specialists (textiles)Private sector leadershipBusiness leaders played a central role in programme design and delivery, contributing funding, training facilities, instructors and technical expertise. Informed by the inputs of in-company experts, the training courses for each occupation were standardized to meet market needs.Scalable modelWith sustained public–private investment, Parwaaz has developed a model that has the potential to expand significantly and be applied in other countries. Projections suggested it could engage 200 large enterprises and 300 small and medium-sized firms, supporting reskilling efforts for up to 3 million workers and enabling approximately 2 million young people to gain workforce-ready skills.