Computerworld Pakistan takes a wide-view look at the P@SHA Skills Survey Report 2025, released in early September 2025, a document that reveals not just where the jobs are, but where the sector’s evolving maturity opens pathways for strategic workforce alignment and long-term national advantage.
This report, developed through an extensive survey of 256 IT and ITeS companies across Pakistan, captures a critical moment in the country’s digital development journey. The findings show a technology sector that is growing in sophistication, branching into new global markets, and investing heavily in hybrid, AI-enabled and platform-based delivery. At the same time, the sector is being slowed by structural inefficiencies—particularly the growing disconnect between industry demands and academic preparation. The survey maps this tension with statistical precision, laying bare the outlines of a workforce that is abundant in numbers but uneven in readiness.
Pakistan is currently producing between 36,000 to 41,000 graduates annually in computer science and IT disciplines, according to enrollment and graduation estimates from NCEAC. When combined with output from non-accredited institutions, the annual graduate supply approaches 72,952. In the last recorded cycle, only 13,350 of these graduates were employed by P@SHA member firms. That yields a formal absorption rate of just 18.3 percent. This rate, while slightly higher than previous years, remains deeply underwhelming in light of the industry’s size and hiring needs.
Even more revealing is that 72 percent of hiring in the past year focused on experienced professionals. In an industry shaped by project timelines, client-side expectations, and lean team structures, companies prefer hiring mid-level or senior staff who can immediately contribute. The reluctance to onboard fresh graduates is not ideological—it is logistical. Time-to-productivity has become a key hiring variable. Employers report that new graduates often lack the tool fluency, delivery orientation, and communication discipline required in client-facing environments.
These challenges are not hypothetical. They are reflected in the skill categories most in demand. In programming, the report shows continued strength in Fullstack JavaScript, .NET, and Python, with .NET demand slightly surpassing JavaScript when both C# and Fullstack variants are included. The preference for .NET, in particular, underscores Pakistan’s alignment with enterprise solutions, government automation, and systems integration work, many of which still run on Microsoft-backed stacks.
In mobile development, the transition is unambiguous: React Native and Flutter dominate hiring at every experience level, especially for early-career roles. Hybrid frameworks are not only cheaper and faster to build on—they are easier to maintain across platforms. Native stacks like Java/Kotlin for Android and Swift/Objective-C for iOS are still relevant, particularly at the mid to senior tier, but they no longer define the entry point to mobile tech careers. Xamarin and Ionic are now niche technologies, largely requested for legacy or specialized projects.
Cloud infrastructure requirements mirror this platform consolidation. AWS Developer Certification emerges as the most in-demand credential for freshers, while Microsoft Azure and DevOps pipelines are strongly sought after at all levels. Kubernetes and Data Warehousing skills are cited as priority needs for senior engineers, reflecting the growing complexity and containerization of production workloads. These trends suggest a layered skills environment: AWS for onboarding, DevOps for throughput, and Kubernetes for scale.
Testing and QA hiring shows a significant demand for modern tools and certifications. ISTQB remains a strong entry credential, while Selenium and Cypress dominate at the mid-tier. Playwright, a newer framework, is gaining senior-level attention, especially in firms building rapid CI/CD pipelines. JUnit and legacy tools retain marginal demand, mostly in maintenance roles.
Database roles continue to prioritize relational systems. MySQL, MS SQL, and Oracle remain the most requested skills across all levels, especially for entry-level jobs. However, NoSQL databases like MongoDB and Cassandra are seeing increased traction among mid and senior professionals, indicating a market evolution toward more distributed, flexible data architectures.
In AI and machine learning, the survey offers one of its most detailed statistical breakdowns. OpenAI skills lead demand with 638 job openings, spread evenly across junior, mid-level, and senior positions. TensorFlow follows with 511 openings, weighted toward the 2–5 years experience range. DataRobot registers 398 jobs, typically in firms working with automated ML solutions and analytics products. The inference is clear: AI is no longer an isolated specialization. It is a skill layer being embedded across engineering, testing, UX, and product workflows.
Software integration tools are gaining mid-level momentum. MuleSoft tops the list, with Apache Camel and Dell Boomi also showing steady demand. These platforms are central to API-driven environments, ERP integrations, and microservice orchestration. The increasing role of these tools points to the growing complexity of backend architecture, even in mid-sized firms.
Project management continues to be driven by tool-based and methodology-oriented roles. Agile, Scrum, PMP, and Jira skills dominate the hiring matrix, especially for experienced professionals. However, there is also clear opportunity for younger professionals with hands-on knowledge of platforms like Trello and Asana to move into structured project support roles.
Reskilling and upskilling data provides perhaps the most compelling evidence of industry transition. The report identifies 61,515 professionals in need of upskilling and another 61,155 requiring reskilling. For upskilling, the top cited competencies include Jira, AWS, Fullstack JavaScript, Adobe Suite, Snowflake, Solidity, and Hyperledger. This reflects a demand for hybrid skill profiles, particularly in agile product environments and design-heavy workflows. For reskilling, the landscape shifts toward cloud automation and data engineering—Azure DevOps, Power BI, AWS CodePipeline, Microsoft Dynamics 365, JavaScript, and certifications like Agile, Scrum, PMP, and CISA lead the list.
Certification demand is explicitly mapped in the report: 46,530 certifications were requested across all roles. These include both foundational and advanced tracks—Professional Scrum Master™, Azure Fundamentals, CISA, PMP, CISSP, ISTQB, VMware, and ISO credentials. This formalization of certification requirements marks a growing desire for verified competence, especially in remote-first and asynchronous team models.
Non-technical requirements receive substantial attention. Employers repeatedly highlight the lack of soft skills among graduates as a barrier to hiring. Communication, professionalism, team collaboration, and problem-solving are now regarded as baseline traits. As outsourcing and exports become more central to business models, these skills are essential—not optional. The sector is becoming more service-driven, and therefore more dependent on empathy, clarity, and discipline in client interactions.
Language fluency is increasingly recognized as a force multiplier. Beyond English, the report notes rising demand for Arabic, French, Spanish, German, Mandarin, and Japanese. These languages align with strategic expansion into GCC, Francophone Africa, LATAM, DACH, and East Asia. Arabic speakers are especially needed in ERP implementations and localization projects for the Gulf. French and Spanish are becoming crucial for BPO and digital content roles. German supports fintech and enterprise SaaS relationships, while Mandarin and Japanese are cited in gaming, robotics, and emerging tech outsourcing opportunities. Professionals with both language and tech fluency are now at a distinct market advantage.
The report’s sampling architecture also reveals important ecosystem insights. Small and medium enterprises represent the bulk of Pakistan’s IT hiring. Micro enterprises (1–10 employees) make up 13.37 percent, small enterprises (11–50) account for 40.64 percent, and medium enterprises (51–200) stand at 31.55 percent. Large and very large enterprises together represent just 14.44 percent. This confirms that the country’s tech employment landscape is not shaped by a few dominant players—it is broadly distributed, grassroots-led, and SME-powered.
The P@SHA Skills Survey Report 2025 ultimately offers both a snapshot and a scaffolding. It is a diagnostic instrument, but also a directional document. It equips universities, bootcamps, and training institutions with the data they need to design job-relevant curricula. It gives policymakers the evidence required to justify skill-linked incentives, workforce subsidies, and targeted export support. It provides employers with a benchmark to define hiring expectations, compensation levels, and internal training pathways. Most importantly, it gives students and early-career professionals a roadmap—one built not on vague market myths but on granular, validated demand signals.
Computerworld Pakistan believes this report reflects a maturing sector. It acknowledges gaps without fatalism. It surfaces friction points while pointing to leverage. Pakistan’s tech economy is not behind. It is branching. It is recalibrating. And with sustained investment in demand-driven skilling, AI-integrated literacy, and multilingual talent, it is increasingly poised to serve not just as a vendor hub, but as a strategy partner in the global digital economy.
Read the full report here.
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