Women workers and the future of work in Pakistan

The nature of work is changing dramatically the world over due to technological advancements. This calls for looking at how women will be affected by the automation and digitalization of work. Other than an occasional report1 commissioned by international organizations and discussions in newspapers that target mostly urban women, there seems to be a disconnect between the current location of women in work,technological advancements and policy considerations relating to the future.

This has serious implications for women who generally are on the margins of debates around productive employment, income generation and decent work anyway. This paper broadly looks at the narratives and debates, focusing on the future of work and women in Pakistan. It also raises questions on the feminist debates in Pakistan that have yet to include discussions about the impact of technology on women’s work.

Aisha Anees Malik, assistant professor at the Centre of Excellence in Gender Studies at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, takes the reader through the narratives and debates, focusing on the future of work and women in Pakistan. 

By portraying the transformations in the future of work due to technological advancements in Pakistan, the study calls for looking at how women will be affected by the automation and digitalization of work. A review of literature from Pakistan indicates that the country has yet to wake up to this reality.