Pakistan’s mobile assembly industry was poised to take off, but a foreign exchange crisis caused the nascent, import-dependent sector to crash.
Only 10.6 million phones have been manufactured so far in 2023, compared to nearly 22 million last year.
Muhammad Faisal joined Chinese smartphone maker Tecno Mobile’s Pakistan marketing team as a trainee in January 2021. He was eager and excited to work at a global company — then among the leading mobile phone sellers in Pakistan, with a large market share in Latin America, too. For the first two years, Faisal was showered with bonuses and promotions. But in February 2023, he was suddenly laid off in industry-wide job cuts due to a regulatory change.
Despite being unemployed for the past seven months, Faisal doesn’t want to return to the mobile phone industry. “I would also advise young people to consider exploring more stable industries to pursue their career goals,” he told Rest of World. “It’s essential to prioritize industries that are less affected by economic fluctuations.”
His lack of trust is not misplaced. Earlier this year, thousands of Pakistani workers lost their jobs when the government abruptly imposed restrictions on imports of industrial raw materials due to dwindling foreign exchange reserves. Nearly all of the country’s 30 mobile phone assembly factories reportedly shut down after running out of raw material. According to some estimates, at least 20,000 people were out of work. The affected companies included...
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