Labour Force Ziarat
Authentic and complete information on the size and composition of the labour force in the district is not available for any year. Even a rough approximation is not possible on this subject because of non-availability of reliable estimate of the district’s population. The available information on the subject is as follows.
Blacksmith at work
Off-Farm Private Sector
According to the survey of labour force conducted by the Labour Department, in 1993-94 Ziarat District had 310 persons employed in private (off-farm) establishments . Included were 49 children but no women.
The corresponding official data for 1996-97 is not available. However, as indicated by the (i) a rapid reconnaissance of the Ziarat town and bazaars of the villages along side the Ziarat—Quetta road, and (ii) interviews with informed persons of the area, the existing (1996-97) number of wage workers in private establishments must be over two thousand. This is true for the months of April - October. Commercial activity in Ziarat town and around subsides a lot during November - March, but even then the number of private wage workers would be close to two thousand.
On-Farm Wage Labour
Use of full time wage labour in the farm sector is very rare. Farming is largely a domestic-labour based enterprise. Wage labourers (paid in cash and in kind) are engaged mostly at land preparation and harvesting time. A quantitative measure of the size of this kind of labour force is not available.
Public Sector Employment
The public sector is an important employer. According to the District Accounts Officer, 1,436 persons are employed in the Offices of the Government of Balochistan. The number of employees paid by the Federal Government, Banks, public sector (federal) autonomous organisations is not known, but is believed to be running in hundreds (excluding defence personnel).
Women Workers
Official statistics don’t take account of women workers although they constitute a large segment of the district's labour force. Women make an important contribution to crop production, livestock and poultry farming, and post harvest management of crops. A large number of women are engaged in sewing and embroidery work as a part or full time earning activity. Work like fetching water and fuel wood, repairing the houses etc. take a good deal of their time.