LAHORE: Workers in Pakistan remained on the receiving end throughout 2025 -- not merely because of subdued economic activity, but due to a deeper, more corrosive problem of the persistent disregard for their dignity, welfare and fundamental rights.
Wages are often cited as the core labour issue, the pressure on Pakistan’s workforce has increasingly come from non-monetary factors -- lack of respect, absence of social protection, weak enforcement of labour laws and exploitative employer behaviour. These silent stressors have eroded morale, productivity and social cohesion.
Despite modest macroeconomic stabilisation, workers saw little relief. Inflation may have slowed, and currency volatility may have eased, but workplace realities did not improve proportionately to uptick in economy delayed payments, lack of written contracts and unsafe working conditions remained widespread -- especially in the informal economy.
The concept of decent work, as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), goes far beyond a monthly paycheck. It encompasses productive employment that provides fair income, job security, social protection for families, respect for fundamental rights, and opportunities for personal development and social integration. By this benchmark, Pakistan’s labour market in 2025 presents a troubling picture.
The ILO’s Decent Work Country Program for Pakistan (2023-27) rightly identifies domestic workers, home-based workers, sanitation staff, nurses and community health workers as priority groups. These occupations form the backbone of Pakistan’s care economy, yet they remain among the most undervalued and least protected. In 2025, sanitation workers continued to risk their lives without proper safety equipment; domestic workers remained excluded from labour laws in several provinces; and community health workers faced delayed salaries despite being critical to public health delivery.
A particularly neglected dimension of labour distress is respect. When employees feel humiliated, ignored, or treated as disposable, productivity suffers. Research globally -- and workplace experience locally -- shows that slighted employees respond not through open rebellion, but through quiet withdrawal: arriving late, leaving early, taking longer breaks, or overusing sick leave. This form of “silent revenge” is not laziness; it is a psychological response to indignity.
In Pakistan, disrespect is often normalised. Workers are shouted at, denied leave for family emergencies, or made to feel replaceable at all times. Even small gestures -- timely communication, recognition of effort, humane scheduling -- are frequently absent. Yet respect costs nothing, and its absence exacts a heavy economic price. Employers who complain about low productivity must confront an uncomfortable truth that dignity is a productivity input.
Another uncomfortable reality is employer behaviour during economic stress. In 2025, many businesses passed the full burden of adjustment onto workers -- freezing wages, extending hours and reducing benefits -- while protecting profits, perks and inefficiencies at the top. Risk-sharing was absent; vulnerability was one-sided.
Pakistan’s labour crisis in 2025 is not only an economic issue; it is a moral one. A society that normalises disrespect toward workers undermines its own stability. No economy can grow sustainably on exhausted, humiliated, and insecure labour.
The state’s role remains weak. Labour inspection systems are understaffed, fragmented, and often compromised. Social security institutions cover only a fraction of the workforce. Informal workers -- rickshaw drivers, loaders, agricultural labourers, home-based producers -- remain outside the safety net altogether. Without enforcement, labour laws exist largely on paper.
The crisis is most visible in the care economy. Pakistan has an estimated 117.4 million people engaged in unpaid care and domestic work. This invisible labour subsidises the entire economy, allowing formal sectors to function while contributing nothing to GDP statistics and receiving no social protection in return. In 2025, despite rising awareness, unpaid care work remained excluded from serious economic planning. Investing in the care economy is not charity -- it is an economic strategy.
Pakistan must move from a low-wage, low-respect labour model to one anchored in dignity, protection, and fairness. Decent work is not a luxury to be pursued after growth -- it is a prerequisite for it. If workers continue to be unseen and unheard, the cost will not only be borne by them, but by the economy and society at large.
