Pakistan is preparing for one of its largest overseas employment pushes yet, targeting 400,000 jobs Pakistan workers could fill for projects tied to the 2034 FIFA World Cup in Saudi Arabia. The country plans to train and deploy up to 400,000 workers for these opportunities.
Official documents show that planners are aligning workforce strategy with expected demand from World Cup-related development. Saudi Arabia will likely need Pakistani workers across infrastructure, aviation, tourism, construction, and allied service sectors between 2026 and 2034. Therefore, this isn’t a short-term push but a multi-year strategy.
The plan fits into Pakistan’s wider effort to expand overseas employment. Additionally, officials want to improve the labor force’s skill profile for international markets. They’re targeting the training and deployment of around 300,000 to 400,000 workers to meet anticipated demand from Saudi projects ahead of the tournament.
Overseas employment remains a central pillar of Pakistan’s labor strategy. During July-March FY2025-26, around 215,719 workers completed soft-skills training. This training aims to improve their adaptability, productivity, and global employability. Meanwhile, the numbers from 2025 show just how large this system already is.
In 2025 alone, the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment registered 762,499 workers for overseas jobs. Since 1972, more than 15 million Pakistanis have gone abroad for employment through official channels. These workers have spread across more than 50 countries during that time.
The Gulf continues to dominate this trend significantly. More than 96 percent of officially documented Pakistani workers head to GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia remained the single largest destination in 2025, taking in 530,256 workers, or nearly 70 percent of all overseas employment registrations that year.
The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 program has already driven rising demand in infrastructure, construction, and services. That demand will likely grow further as World Cup-linked activity picks up pace. So the timing of Pakistan’s training push lines up directly with Saudi Arabia’s own development timeline.
At the same time, Pakistan is working to improve how it prepares and sends workers abroad. Officials are digitizing parts of the emigration process. They’re also expanding training and recruitment systems to make overseas hiring more transparent and efficient.
Finally, the broader goal is clear. Pakistan wants to position itself strongly to benefit from upcoming labor demand in Saudi Arabia, while also creating better-paid and higher-skilled employment opportunities for its own workforce in the years ahead.
