COVID-19, Job Market Disruptions & Cooperatives Alternative: A Case Study of Pakistan

Abstract

The objective conditions of Pakistan’s economy especially in its labour market - have not kept pace with broader demographic changes such as population growth. This has created wide-ranging socioeconomic inequities in the form of poverty, unemployment, falling living standards, and so on. The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated this situation. Research suggests that widespread poverty and unemployment - especially among the youth - can directly increase crime, terrorism, and militancy. In this context, the paper recommends a hitherto untested alternative employment policy that can benefit all segments of Pakistan’s society, with a special focus on unemployed youth. This policy broadly revolves around the creation and promotion of community-based entrepreneurial firms, also called ‘Worker Cooperatives.’ The latter have a robust academic tradition, specifically in Marxian political economics, with Mondragon Cooperatives Corporation (MCC) and Marcora Law serving as its international best practices. If allowed to grow and mushroom untrammelled, a Worker Cooperatives Sector can become an engine of economic growth and employment generation in Pakistan.