(Bloomberg) — Never miss an episode. Follow The Big Take Asia podcast today. A record number of Pakistanis are leaving at a rapid speed.
Among them are some of the country’s top talent including doctors, engineers, accountants and managers. Over the last three years, one million skilled workers like them have left Pakistan. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host Rebecca Choong Wilkins talks to Bloomberg’s Pakistan Bureau Chief Faseeh Mangi about what’s behind the severe brain drain in one of the world’s most populous nations, where the immigrants are going, and what it means for the country’s already fragile economy that depends on loans from the International Monetary Fund.
Pakistan’s Top Talent Is Leaving the Country in Record Numbers Watch, from Bloomberg Originals:What’s Driving Pakistan’s Middle Class Brain Drain? Listen and follow The Big Take Asia on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts Terminal clients: Click here to subscribe Here is a lightly edited transcript of the conversation: Rebecca Choong Wilkins: When Asad Ejaz Butt was growing up, he was ambitious. He left his home country of Pakistan to attend college in Canada. He graduated with honors and got a job there as a management consultant.
But in 2015 – when Asad was in his mid-20s, he made a decision that surprised people close to him – Asad Ejaz Butt: I left everything. Choong Wilkins: He gave up his job in Canada to move back to Pakistan. Butt: I was one of the few.
