ISLAMABAD: It’s a classroom with tables, chairs, and around 20 students listening attentively to an instructor. However, the lessons are a bit different: respecting the laws, cultures and customs of Gulf countries and how to integrate with the local populations there.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of Pakistani nationals travel overseas, particularly to Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman as skilled and unskilled workers. These workers remit a portion of their income back to their families in Pakistan, which serves as a valuable source of foreign exchange for the government.
However, Pakistan’s government does not offer a program to train these workers and equip them with soft skills that would cushion the impact of the cultural shock they face after arriving in these Gulf countries.
As a result, private recruiters have stepped in. These recruiters help Pakistanis who have secured jobs abroad understand how to behave online, respect local laws and customs, and adapt to workplace expectations in Gulf countries.
“I think it is very important nowadays to train our Pakistani manpower, especially people going to the Gulf countries [on] usage of social media, responsibility of social media, the rules and regulations of the host country over there,” Issam Baig, chairman of Jan Mohammed and Sons recruitment firm, told Arab News.
“And at the same time, training them in soft skills to curb the cultural shock which they get when they travel to the GCC.”
Soft skills are personal characteristics, social skills and communication skills that enable a person to interact effectively and harmoniously with others.
Recruiters apprise Pakistani workers of the laws applicable in Gulf countries and caution them against violating them to protect Pakistan’s image abroad.
Jan Mohammed and Sons is one of Pakistan’s oldest manpower exporters. These orientation sessions by the company are now a regular part of the pre-departure preparation for workers they recruit.
The company has recruited and sent workers to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the UAE after providing them training to sharpen their soft skills.
’EXTREME CAUTION’
Most trainees are laborers and technical workers. Through PowerPoint presentations and briefings, they are cautioned about simple matters: personal hygiene, workplace discipline, social media etiquettes, and how to interact respectfully with colleagues of different genders and from various nationalities.
Ubaid Tariq, a trainer employed by Jan Mohammed and Sons, keeps the message simple for his students, especially when it concerns social media usage.
“You have to take extreme caution while posting anything on social media,” he told Arab News. “Don’t post anything useless and don’t indulge in negativity. Respect the country where you are and its laws.”
Tariq said the goal is to prepare workers for cultural sensitivities they may not have encountered in Pakistan.
“This orientation session right now is all about respecting the culture and not misusing social media, and this is what these candidates have been taught right now,” he said.
Pakistan exported a total of 763,000 workers to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in 2025, according to Pakistan’s Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (BEOE).
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data shows the country received $21.65 billion in remittances from the GCC region during the last fiscal year that ended in June 2025, which accounted for over 56 percent of the country’s $38.3 billion total global remittances.
When contacted by Arab News, a senior official at Pakistan’s Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis said a soft skills certification is mandatory for workers heading to Europe.
But a similar training program has yet to be introduced for Gulf-bound workers.
“The ministry is working to introduce such training for GCC countries in collaboration with recruiters in future,” the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Usman Ali, a trainee, said he was headed to a Gulf country and praised Jan Mohammed and Sons for organizing a “fruitful” training session.
“I am going abroad for my family,” Ali said. “God willing, I will make my name abroad and earn a good name for Pakistan.”
