KARACHI,PK: As one drives along I.I. Chundrigar Road in Karachi - the Wall Street of Pakistan - it is difficult to miss the sight of some shutters pulled down, where once used to be banks and business offices.
A few of those disappeared on mergers, others on the back of scams and still others drowning under competition and economic recession. But some of the finest financial institutions and private firms still fight a pitched battle for power and glory. Subtle evidence of that are the new skyscrapers that dot the skyline; an under-construction bank's head office is scrambling to put at least one storey higher than its adjoining city's tallest bank building.
Corporate spending on infrastructure is heavy, but staff come cheap. As private institutions churn out post graduates in truckloads and more skilled, unemployed (due to rightsizing and downsizing by the public sector banks) join the race for jobs, employers set the terms. And in most part these are harsh. An MBA from institutes other than IBA and LUMS is offered as little as Rs5,000 a month. But most job-seekers grab the opportunity, knowing fully well that if they don't, others would.
Starting out at Rs3,500 to Rs5,000, middle order executives with bombastic titles as "Junior executives" or "Assistant manager finance", manage to climb to 10,000 to 14,000 rupees in pay over a ten year period. But the demands of employer banks, financial houses and private firms on employees are heavy: the front office staff must be immaculately dressed - all complete with shinning shoes, well-pressed trousers, neatly attired shirt and a proper necktie, not to mention the smiling face.
"In the pay package that they give, it is impossible to make even one pair of all that dress available," wails Ashraf Rawji, who works as officer grade-II in one of such financial institutions. But for such middle-level executives, help is at hand: Lined up in the narrow street behind the tall buildings, are the second-hand clothes dealers. "The price of shirt that these people sell start at Rs50 and go up to Rs150," says Ashraf.
Trousers could cost up to Rs250 and a necktie is as cheap as Rs10 to Rs25 a piece. By contrast, a shirt stitched up by a tailor would come to cost at least Rs350 and a trouser Rs500. A pair of shoes from a big store in Saddar is marked at over a thousand rupees, but it is available in this unregulated marked at Rs300. "These shoes are not second-hand and look exactly like those from the top class shoe stores with big names," assures Ashraf, adding "only these last less."
For lunch, the middle order executives can be spotted sitting stealthily on one of the benches, lining the road side 'khokhas', gulping down a bread and some 'chana chola'. For the timid ones, there are a couple of bakeries, that keep ready a bench in one corner, out of sight of the people passing on the pavement. There they can take a bite of 'chicken rolls', pastries and patties, but in either case, the executive ensures that the meal he munches costs no more than Rs15. For conveyance, some manage a bike, but most others climb on to a bus, wagon or more 'prestigious' coach that charges a couple of rupees more but is quicker and comfortable.
Life for such middle order executive is harsh. He is torn between the dreams that were cherished during study days and the realities of the job market. Having put more than ten years in one profession, it is impossible for him to change tracks. All he can do is to jump jobs. But with employment market shrinking and more fresh-faced post graduates lining up for fewer new openings, the only hope for such middle-order executive lies in the revival of a robust economy.
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