Pakistan: A Naukri-Pesha Mulk in the Making

How salaried work is quietly reshaping the middle class

Pakistan is steadily becoming a naukri-peshā mulk.

Three decades ago, less than half of all earners were salaried employees.

Today, 6 out of every 10 earners rely primarily on a salary.

This shift is doing more than changing job titles — it is reshaping:
• Middle-class identity
• Political expectations
• Household risk behavior
• Consumption patterns
• Education and career aspirations

A salary creates predictability — and with it, the psychology of a middle class:

monthly budgets, school fees, rent, loans, promotions, pensions.

But here is the paradox:

Pakistan is creating a middle class faster than it is creating middle-class security.

Most of this new middle class still lacks:
▪️ Stable contracts
▪️ Pension coverage
▪️ Health insurance
▪️ Inflation protection

So the country is becoming salary-dependent — but still shock-prone.

The attached chart shows how Pakistan’s labour market has quietly transformed from family-based work to wage-based survival.

This is not just an economic change.

It is a civilizational shift in how Pakistan earns its living.

Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, HIES / Labour Force Reports starting 2001