Field Marshal Asif Munir Image: ANI, Republic
Islamabad: Pakistan is witnessing a large-scale exodus of educated and skilled professionals, with Chief of Defense Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir describing the trend as “brain gain”, drawing strong criticism from economists and political pundits.
Official immigration data shows that between 2024 and 2025, about 5,000 doctors, 11,000 engineers and 13,000 accountants are expected to leave Pakistan for jobs abroad. The exodus of nurses has been even more serious, leaving government and private hospitals facing acute staff shortages.
Also read Munir’s argument
The data released through 2022 also shows a continued increase in migration into the highly qualified, highly skilled category, reflecting a worsening crisis of professionals seeking stability and growth abroad amid Pakistan’s weak economy, shrinking job market and political uncertainty.
Despite growing concerns, Asim Munir, while addressing Pakistanis living abroad, dismissed the fear of brain drain and said migration of skilled Pakistanis should be seen as “brain gain”. He argued that people living abroad contribute to the country by working as global representatives and sending money home.
However, there has been a massive backlash to these comments. Critics say that Pakistan is becoming more dependent on exporting talent rather than creating an environment for the development of professionals domestically. Former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar highlighted the report and wrote on He also said that despite Pakistan being the world’s fourth largest freelancing hub, it has lost $1.62 billion due to the internet shutdown, putting 2.37 million freelance jobs at risk.
Freelancing sector badly affected
The situation has been worsened by frequent internet shutdowns, which have severely affected Pakistan’s freelancing sector – one of the major sources of employment in the country. According to the report, these disruptions have caused huge financial losses and put millions of freelance jobs at risk, despite Pakistan being one of the largest freelancing hubs in the world.
Analysts have warned that the continued loss of skilled manpower could weaken Pakistan’s healthcare, engineering, financial and technology sectors in the long run. While remittances provide short-term economic relief, experts argue that they cannot replace the long-term value of maintaining human capital.
As the exodus continues to grow, there is increasing pressure on policymakers to go beyond talk and implement structural reforms that can restore confidence in Pakistan’s educated workforce and give them a reason to stay.
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