Trends in agricultural employment

Finally! Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has released its annual compendium (for FY18) on trends in labour market, albeit with a two-year hiatus. The document, which follows ten key indicators, is touted by PBS as an “empirical prelude towards strategizing for full, productive employment”, under SDG, target 8.5.

While the document’s scope is limited, it does not offer data points for all key metrics across same time period, the statistics related to agriculture sector make for an interesting read.

At 37.4 percent share in total employment, the once largest sector by labour force participation rate is fast losing its primacy. For the first time possibly since independence, services sector has taken the lead, albeit by only 1.2 percentage points.

Equally interesting is the gender-wise breakdown of sectoral share. In sharp contrast to countrywide trends, sectoral share in total female employment stands at a staggering 66.1 percent, compared to just 29.6 percent for males.

Another key indicator is share of employed in the sector working 50 hours or more. Compared to industry and services sector, agri-labour participants come out at the bottom for average number of hours worked during a week, with close to 28 percent of total working excess hours. Contrast this with trade and services sector, where over 68 percent of total spend punching in the proverbial nine hours daily.

This is surprising considering that while average work week in urban and peri-urban concentrated services sectors is usually five-six days, a typical work week at farms does not necessarily follow the weekday-weekend convention. Furthermore, since the metric indicates average work week, the seasonal intensity of farmers’ toil does not explain away the distinction.

Yet, of most importance to those monitoring the SDG goals is the metric least highlighted: sectoral employment with no formal education. Countrywide, close to 41 percent of labour force lacks any formal training. Compare this to 63 percent for agriculture and a little under 23 percent for wholesale and retail trade, and the stark reality of rural-urban divide in literacy becomes glaring. Sadly, no gender-wise or geographical break up is shared for the shame; making it difficult to highlight improvement if any over the years.

The document defines “own-account workers and contributing family workers” as those vulnerably employed. A certainly useful indicator of state of labour welfare, the metric appears to be a misnomer for agricultural segment. As per the document, over 88 percent of workers in the sector are vulnerably employed. Yet, in reality, it only means that a large number of farmers and herders provide for themselves, instead of having to seek employment elsewhere.

The document is a useful stepping stone for those seeking information on state of labour in the country. But more is needed in terms of historical trends across all SDG indicators in order to measure progress over time.