“Such events are very useful for people like us who cannot go out to find jobs,” said Rana Waqas, who was in his wheelchair attending Rozee.pk’s Parvaaz’ 16. “This event has provided a fair and equal opportunity to a handicapped person like me. I can meet all employers under one roof and find a suitable job for myself,” said Waqas who is hoping to find a suitable match for his Masters in International Relations degree.
As many as 50,000 people attended the job fair held on April 17, in Karachi’s expo center. The one-day job fair was a continuation of an online job portal, Rozee.pk’s efforts to provide a chance to the large number of job seekers in Pakistan’s shrinking job market.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Rozee.pk CEO Monis Rehman said, “Yes it’s true that there are more jobs seekers than there are jobs available, but events like ours provide an opportunity to both the employers and job seekers to find a suitable match for them.” He said that Rozee.pk has been working to provide a platform to job seekers who say that there are no jobs and employers who say there are no suitable candidates.
“At the job fair, we see strong candidates coming in and there are 120 employers here who are looking to hire those candidates. We process almost 40,000 applications a day. I think the problem of unemployment can be dealt with by providing adequate platforms.”
It is estimated that 1.5 million new people enter the job market every year. Many like Musab Kamran are willing to take any job that is available regardless of its scope and growth prospects, “You know the jobs are so few these days that whatever opportunity you get is a good opportunity.’’ said Musab, who has a degree in Biochemistry. He has so far been unable to secure a job. He is hoping things will change at Rozee.pk’s Parvaaz’ 16.
According to a survey published by Pakistan Labor Force for the year 2012-13, youth unemployment has increased to 6.2% from the previous year when unemployment rate was 6 %. The gradual growth of unemployment rate has a number of causes but according to a company representative present at Rozee.pk’s job fair the main cause is lack of training and skills required for the available jobs.
Entering the packed hall of the Expo Center, it was evident that the job seekers wanted to fully use the opportunity Rozee.pk had provided and many of them seemed optimistic about the transparency of hiring, as claimed by the CEO Rozee.pk.
“The best thing is that you get to directly interact with the employers. I’ve already had a paid internship because of Rozee.pk, and I am hopeful that today’s event will provide me another opportunity,” said Saad Farid who had just dropped his CV at a telecommunication company. According to many of the attendees of Rozee.pk’s Parvaaz’ 16, such job fairs are a big help to the job seekers and they look forward to such events.