The Impact of Technological Advancements and Globalization on Job Market Polarization: A Comparative Study of the UK, Oman, and Pakistan

Job polarization refers to the widening gap in the labor market, where high-skill and low-skill employment are expanding, while middle-skill jobs are declining. Technological advancement and globalization drive this phenomenon, which is transforming employment patterns and income distribution. This study aims to analyze the impact of technological innovations and globalization on job polarization between high-skilled UK and low-skilled Oman, relative to middle-skilled Pakistan. In doing so, we use time series data from 1991 to 2021. For estimation, we employ the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration and find that middle-skilled Pakistan, in terms of jobs, is hollowing out due to technological innovations and globalization. However, the displaced Pakistani workers concentrate either in the high-skilled UK or the low-skilled Oman. Based on these findings, we suggest that Pakistani policymakers focus on labor skills, reduce reliance on imported goods, and provide job opportunities to displaced workers within the country to address the issue of Pakistan’s declining net migration relative to the UK and Oman.