IT exports soar, AI triggers job cuts

The Express Tribune, citing State Bank of Pakistan figures, reported that receipts from IT and IT-enabled services rose about 21% to $4.6 billion over fiscal year 2025-26. The previous year's figure was $3.814 billion. The sector has become the largest services export category, making up nearly half of all services earnings, yet it still fell roughly $400 million short of the government's $5 billion target.

The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) says entry-level roles at large technology firms have shrunk by about a quarter, while developers between 22 and 25 years old are down nearly 20% since 2024. Freelance listings for entry-level work now make up under 9% of the market, down from roughly 15%, and demand for simple writing and translation fell 32% year on year as customers moved to AI tools. An Islamabad firm reported cutting up to 80% of its delivery-side positions once AI took over routine tasks.

Syed Azfar Hussain of the National Incubation Center Karachi links the trends to AI taking over routine coding and support work, so firms need fewer staff. Veqarul Islam, chief executive of Jaffer Business Systems, is more sceptical of the headline, noting that freelancers bring in roughly $1.6 billion, around a quarter of the total. He argues tax design has encouraged full-time staff to rebadge as freelancers, and judges the boom's effect on national progress to have been negligible.