Former President of Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) Majyd Aziz has Saturday said that Pakistan should prepare for massive layoffs after Eid ul-Fitr.
Talking to Express Tribune, Aziz said that the Sindh government had paid Rs 1.25 billion to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund instead of diverting this money towards the employers who then might have been able to continue paying the wages of their employees and avoided layoffs.
It is pertinent to mention here that Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had recently stated that the federal government was preparing a package for four million people who have lost their jobs during the Coronavirus lockdown.
This is a conservative figure according to most analysts who believe that the actual number of layoffs could be much higher in the country.
The situation has mainly worsened due to the government’s decision to offer small loans via banks instead of diverting the workers’ welfare fund towards paying wages of the private employees.
Aziz also says that it was suggested to the Sindh government to utilise the workers’ welfare fund in paying the salaries of private employees’ workers but they instead chose to divert the funds towards the PM Relief fund.
Talking to Express Tribune, Aziz said that the Sindh government had paid Rs 1.25 billion to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund instead of diverting this money towards the employers who then might have been able to continue paying the wages of their employees and avoided layoffs.
It is pertinent to mention here that Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had recently stated that the federal government was preparing a package for four million people who have lost their jobs during the Coronavirus lockdown.
This is a conservative figure according to most analysts who believe that the actual number of layoffs could be much higher in the country.
The situation has mainly worsened due to the government’s decision to offer small loans via banks instead of diverting the workers’ welfare fund towards paying wages of the private employees.
Aziz also says that it was suggested to the Sindh government to utilise the workers’ welfare fund in paying the salaries of private employees’ workers but they instead chose to divert the funds towards the PM Relief fund.