Junior tech jobs in Pakistan are disappearing fast, and new data from the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) shows just how steep the drop has been. Entry-level hiring at major software companies has fallen by around 25 percent, while employment among developers aged 22 to 25 is down nearly 20 percent since 2024. The numbers arrived the same week that Pakistan’s IT exports hit a record high, making the situation both a warning and a puzzle.
What the P@SHA Report Actually Found
P@SHA found that entry-level hiring at major technology companies has fallen by around 25 percent, while employment among developers aged 22 to 25 has declined by nearly 20 percent since 2024. That is not a small dip. For a country that graduates thousands of computer science students every year, it is a structural crack in the pipeline.
The freelance market, which many young Pakistanis rely on as a first income step, looks even worse. Entry-level freelance project listings have dropped from around 15 percent of total listings to below 9 percent, and basic writing and translation work has declined 32 percent year over year as AI adoption increased.
The tasks disappearing are exactly the ones fresh grads are trained to do. Routine work such as basic website development, app development, graphic design, and manual software testing is increasingly being automated, while demand is rising for professionals with expertise in AI engineering, cybersecurity, cloud computing, AI integration, and advanced software development.
The Cruel Irony Behind the Numbers
Here is the part that does not get enough attention: Pakistan’s IT sector is actually growing strongly. Pakistan’s IT and telecom export remittances reached a record Rs1.2 trillion ($4.6 billion) during the 2025-26 fiscal year, an increase of around 20.6 percent from the previous year.
So the industry earns more but hires fewer juniors. The gains flow to senior engineers and AI specialists, not to the 22-year-old holding a fresh CS degree from a public university. This is the gap that nobody at the top table is talking about clearly enough.
Pakistani freelancers are disproportionately concentrated in exactly the categories that are declining fastest: basic content writing, translation, data entry, simple graphic design, and entry-level coding. That is not a coincidence. It reflects what was affordable and accessible for young Pakistanis to get started in. Now those doors are closing.
The global picture backs this up too. Tasks once assigned to fresh graduates, such as debugging, testing, and routine software maintenance, are now increasingly automated. Over the last three years, the number of fresh graduates hired by big tech companies globally has declined by more than 50 percent, according to a report by SignalFire. Pakistan is not alone, but it is more exposed because its talent pipeline depends so heavily on entry-level work as a training ground.
We have covered the broader risk before. The World Bank separately placed Pakistan in a high-risk group for AI job losses in its WDR 2026 report, calling out the country’s heavy dependence on routine-task employment.
The Broken Ladder Problem
This is the issue that the “3 million AI jobs by 2030” promise does not fully answer. Junior roles are not just income. They are how developers learn. Every year, thousands of graduates enter software houses, startups, digital agencies, and freelancing platforms hoping to build experience before moving into more specialized or senior roles. Those first jobs have traditionally been the bridge between university and the real world. But many of those entry-level responsibilities are exactly the kind of structured, repetitive work AI handles surprisingly well.
If you remove the bottom rung of the ladder, how does anyone climb to the top? A fresh grad cannot jump straight into AI architecture or cloud security without first building two or three years of hands-on experience. AI is removing the very work that creates that experience.
What the Government Is Promising
IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja has urged the industry not to panic. She brushed aside the concerns, saying that AI should be regarded as a transition that requires preparation rather than a threat, and told Arab News that any honest assessment of this moment must acknowledge that AI will change jobs.
Under the National AI Policy 2025, the government aims to create three million AI-related jobs by 2030. The plan includes Rs277.85 billion ($1 billion) in investment and annual AI training for 200,000 people. It also includes 1,000 fully funded AI scholarships.
The policy also aims to increase the national GDP by 7 to 12 percent. That is an ambitious target. The question is whether the reskilling infrastructure can move fast enough to help the graduates who are job-hunting right now, in August 2026, not in 2030.
On the curriculum side, there is some progress. The HEC has mandated a compulsory AI course in all degree programs from Fall 2026, which will ensure baseline AI literacy nationwide. But a single compulsory course is a starting point, not a solution.
Which Skills Are Still in Demand
Not all tech roles are shrinking. P@SHA’s Skills Survey 2025 found strong demand for AI and ML tool skills, with OpenAI-related skills leading at 638 total openings, ahead of TensorFlow and DataRobot. Cloud computing, DevOps, cybersecurity, and AI engineering are the areas hiring managers are actively looking to fill.
In Pakistan, the demand for data analysts, AI engineers, and machine learning specialists is rising. Currently, around 15,000 professionals are working in AI-related fields, and this number is expected to grow as more companies integrate AI into their operations.
The shift is real and it is happening now. Pakistani tech workers who learn to work with AI tools rather than compete against them are reporting better outcomes. The companies that are growing are the ones that use AI to multiply what their senior people can do, not to simply cut headcount at the bottom.
For fresh graduates, the practical path forward is clear even if it is harder than before: build skills in AI integration, cloud platforms, or cybersecurity rather than staying in pure entry-level coding. Platforms like the government’s P@SHA network and the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) publish updated skill-demand data that can guide training choices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are junior tech jobs in Pakistan falling?
AI tools now handle many tasks that junior developers and freelancers used to do, including basic coding, content writing, graphic design, and software testing. Companies need fewer people for these routine jobs, so entry-level hiring has dropped sharply according to P@SHA data.
How bad is the freelance situation for young Pakistanis?
Quite serious. Entry-level project listings on major freelance platforms have more than halved, falling from about 15 percent of all listings to below 9 percent. Writing and translation work is down 32 percent year over year. Pakistani freelancers are concentrated in exactly the categories AI has hit hardest.
What is the government doing about it?
The National AI Policy 2025 sets a target of 3 million AI-related jobs by 2030, backed by Rs277.85 billion in investment, training for 200,000 people per year, and 1,000 fully funded AI scholarships. The HEC has also made AI a compulsory subject in all university degree programs from Fall 2026.
What skills should Pakistani tech graduates focus on now?
Demand is growing for AI engineering, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data science, and AI integration skills. Basic coding, simple graphic design, manual testing, and entry-level content writing face the most pressure from automation. Moving up the skill ladder as fast as possible is the most practical response right now.
