파키스탄의 인재 위기: 경제적 도전과 두뇌 유출

### 파키스탄의 인재 위기: 경제난으로 인한 이탈 증가: 파키스탄의 인재 위기
* 🇵🇰 파키스탄은 심각한 인재 위기에 직면해 있으며, **더 나은 기회를 찾아 파키스탄을 떠나는 숙련된 노동자들**이 늘고 있어 국민들 사이에 뿌리 깊은 절망감이 반영되고 있습니다.
* 📉 파키스탄에는 **2억 3천만 명이 넘는 인구**가 거주하고 있지만, 파키스탄의 미래에 대한 낙관론이 현저히 감소한 것으로 보아 많은 사람들이 경제 상황에 불만을 표출하고 있습니다.
* 💸 지난 2년 동안 식료품 가격이 **50% 가까이 상승**하는 등 생활비가 치솟으면서 가족들이 기본적인 필요를 충족하는 것이 점점 더 어려워지고 있습니다.
* 🚪 경제적 이주는 파키스탄에서 새로운 일은 아니지만, **캐나다에서 안정적인 직장을 떠나 귀국했다가 비용 상승**으로 인해 다시 해외에서 기회를 찾아야만 했던 아사드와 같은 전문가들이 현재 상황의 시급함을 강조합니다.
* 📊 인플레이션으로 인해 **쌀과 바나나 같은 생필품이 엄청나게 비싸졌고**, 통화 평가절하로 인해 중산층의 재정적 부담은 더욱 가중되었습니다.
* 🏦 파키스탄은 역내에서 **세수가 가장 낮은 국가** 중 하나이며, 이로 인해 전기 및 가스 가격 상승에 대한 불만과 시위가 확산되고 있어 정부는 **세금 징수를 개선해야 한다는 압박**을 받고 있습니다.
* 💼 국제통화기금(IMF)은 **70억 달러 규모의 차관 계약의 일환**으로 전면적인 개혁을 의무화했지만, 이러한 변화는 단기적으로 시민들의 경제적 고통을 악화시킬 수 있습니다.
* 🌍 기술 기업들은 **더 높은 보너스와 해외 기회**를 제공함으로써 인재를 유지하기 위해 노력하고 있지만, 지속적인 경제적 어려움 속에서 이러한 조치의 장기적인 실행 가능성은 여전히 불확실합니다.

파키스탄은 경제적 절망과 생활비 상승으로 인해 숙련된 노동자들이 떠나면서 심각한 인재 위기에 직면해 있습니다.

This is Pakistan, one of the most populous nations on earth. And to add to its list of existential challenges, it has a talent crisis. I've never seen in my 38 years so many people either leaving or wanting to leave. The hopelessness has gone so high. If you speak to anyone in Pakistan, they either know someone who has left Pakistan or someone who wants to leave Pakistan. This has been a longstanding pattern in Pakistan, but this time around, the outflow has been more to do with running from the problems of Pakistan. Skilled workers are now living in surging numbers, depriving the state of tax revenue it needs to avert national bankruptcy. I had to do three jobs at one point. I started feeling that my health was badly affected because on a lot of these days, I was working more than 15 hours a day and perhaps more than 80 hours a week. So why are so many professionals leaving Pakistan?

And what does that mean for the country's economic and political prospects? More than 230 million people call Pakistan home, making it the world's fifth largest nation by population. But ask them how they're doing? Most will say they're unhappy, at best. And it's getting worse. This gray line? It represents people's plunging optimism about Pakistan's economic outlook. While this one charts the corresponding surge of pessimism. Wage growth has not kept up to inflation, and everyone has become a bit more poorer now. It's become difficult to make ends meet. The rent expense of a middle-class income is now almost equal to the electricity bills of their households. Think about that for a moment. Energy bills each month equal to the price of the rent on your home. We've seen a sharp rise in food prices in the last two years. They're up almost 50% and they're sticky over the year now. Just look at the cost of milk.

The previously tax-exempt staple cost more in Karachi than it does in wealthy cities like these. Pakistan is a developing country that sends a lot of unskilled labor to many countries. This shows highly skilled professionals leaving Pakistan. Look how the numbers have grown over five years. And for sure, economic migration is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan. But people like Veqar Islam, who runs a tech company in Karachi, think this time it's different. There is a difference between people wanting to leave for better opportunity, or people desperate to leave because there is nothing left. I was one of the few young Pakistanis who had a career in North America, and I had a high-paying job in Canada back in 2015. But I had a passion to do something for my country, for my people. Asad returned home that year to the surprise of friends and family. But it wasn't to last. My wife was earning in Pakistan.

I was earning in Pakistan. But yet I think over time, both of our salaries lumped together, we could not afford the higher rental prices, the high fuel prices. That pushed us both to start seeking opportunities in the West. It reflects this trend. The number of visas being issued by the US to Pakistani citizens, many of whose skills are highly sought after. Asad applied for and received a scholarship to complete a PhD in the US, and moved to Massachusetts in 2023. The brain drain has always been there, but it's intensified in the recent times and I think it would continue to intensify in the future if the economic situation does not improve. So what exactly is that economic situation? These are rates of inflation for a dozen Asian economies. Now look at Pakistan. Consumer price gains have somewhat moderated this year. But the cost of essentials still hurts. Rice, tea and banana prices have more than doubled in the past two years.

Pakistan's currency has devalued by a third. That has made everything that is imported more expensive. The middle-class person cannot afford a basic car. Health care that is highly dependent on imports has become very expensive in Pakistan. The cost of living because of high food prices, high utility prices has squeezed a lot of disposable income. And Pakistan is a country where people don't tend to make big salaries in the first place. To be among the top 20% income earners in Pakistan, you need to have a salary of 64,000 rupees, which is $230 a month. I've spoken to a few people who are bankers, who have switched from a four-wheeler car to a motorcycle to save on transportation. And then there's the tax issue. Pakistan faces one of the lowest tax revenues in the region. And that's one of the things that's caught the attention of the IMF. In Pakistan, the issue is tax collection.

So please, for the people in Pakistan that can pay taxes, collect it from them. Pakistan has decided to increase electricity prices, gas prices, and it has also decided to increase taxes by a record 40%. This sparked anger across the country. Professionals say they're being taxed too much. Industrialists resent energy price hikes, and farmers think the government buys too little from them. This is on top of lingering discontent over the ousting of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022. It's culminated in a tempestuous period of unrest and political instability, which some analysts have said needs to be stabilized before economic reform can be achieved. Meanwhile, the country's high corporate tax rate makes it harder to encourage businesses to invest locally and create attractive, high-quality jobs. Pakistan has a lot of under-taxed sectors. One is retail, and the other is agriculture. In these two sectors, again, you're seeing a Pakistan

is showing its more serious efforts to bring them in the tax net. This measure is part of Pakistan's latest agreement with the IMF. Pakistan is implementing sweeping reforms to cut costs and meet the terms of a $7 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund. The International Monetary Fund is known as the lender of last resort. Since the 50s, Pakistan has been one of the most regular customers. The Pakistani government has acknowledged the pain of its latest reforms on the population, but has said these structural changes are needed if the country wants to end its decades-long dependency on the IMF. But a longer-term solution will involve Pakistani businesses also being able to incentivize employees to stay with them and plug the middle-class brain drain. Some tech companies are going beyond their usual means by giving higher bonuses or giving a portion of the salary in dollars, rather than the local currency rupee. Our strategy in the last few years has been to go international.

and try to expand our business as fast as we can internationally, so that people see a pathway of going international through us. And hopefully, that will give them more incentive and motivation to stick around for the longest period of time with us and make a career. The question will be whether this is enough not only to retain talent but perhaps even to have it return. I think that option never goes out of the window, and it will always stay on the cards. It's my country, I love it, and despite the problems that I've mentioned, I would always want to do something for it. But I think in the foreseeable future, things don't seem to be improving as much. They haven't improved in the last year or so since I've been in the US. And I think this status quo would continue.

What’s Driving Pakistan’s Middle Class Brain Drain?

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파키스탄의 인재 위기와 경제 과제

파키스탄은 상당수의 숙련된 근로자들이 더 나은 기회를 찾아 해외로 떠나면서 인재 위기에 직면해 있습니다.

이러한 인력 유출은 국가의 중요한 세수를 박탈하여 파키스탄의 경제적 어려움을 더욱 악화시키고 있습니다.

생활비 상승, 임금 상승률 정체, 식품 가격 급등으로 인해 국민들의 불만과 비관론이 커지고 있습니다.

파키스탄의 경제 이주와 비용 상승

카라치의 생활비가 부유한 도시의 생활비를 넘어서면서 고도로 숙련된 전문가들이 파키스탄을 떠나고 있습니다.

파키스탄 시민에 대한 비자 발급이 크게 증가하면서 파키스탄으로부터의 경제 이주 추세가 심화되고 있습니다.

지난 2년 동안 필수 물가가 두 배로 오르는 등 파키스탄의 경제 상황은 여전히 어렵기 때문에 해외에서 기회를 찾으려는 열망은 더욱 커지고 있습니다.

파키스탄의 통화가치가 3분의 1로 평가절하되면서 수입품 가격이 더 비싸지고 중산층이 압박을 받고 있습니다.

파키스탄은 세수 부족에 직면하여 전기, 가스 요금과 세금을 40% 인상하기로 결정했고, 이로 인해 광범위한 분노와 불안이 확산되고 있습니다.

높은 법인세율과 소매업 및 농업과 같은 과소 과세 부문은 현지 기업의 투자와 일자리 창출을 저해하고 있습니다.

개혁과 인재 유지를 위한 파키스탄의 노력

파키스탄은 IMF에 대한 장기적인 의존도를 낮추기 위해 비용을 절감하고 70억 달러의 대출 조건을 충족하기 위해 대대적인 개혁을 시행하고 있습니다.

기술 기업들은 중산층의 두뇌 유출을 막기 위해 더 높은 보너스와 달러 급여를 제공하여 직원들이 회사에 남도록 장려하고 있습니다.

이러한 조치가 인재를 유지하고 복귀를 장려하는 데 얼마나 효과적일지는 불확실하며, 현재 국내 상황은 거의 개선되지 않은 것으로 보입니다.