Pakistani workers forging new careers out of COVID-19 pandemic meltdown

Pakistani workers forging new careers out of COVID-19 pandemic meltdown

RAWALPINDI: Saadia Ahmed worked for years as an entertainment journalist for an online magazine until the publication shut down soon after the start of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic last year. The 35-year-old correspondent was devastated as she saw massive job losses around the world. But rather than wait for the business to pick up again, she decided to change direction. “At first, I thought I should start writing a book, but then I felt too depressed to work on a project such as that,” she told Arab News from her base in Perth, Australia. “Ultimately, I decided to take the advice of a friend who suggested that I should launch my own YouTube channel.” Armed with a selfie stick and her intuition, Ahmed started making and uploading videos three times a week, focusing on developments around the world and discussing rights issues on a channel called “My Two Cents.” “Since then, there has been no looking back,” said Ahmed, who was selected for a master of philosophy degree program on the basis of her broadcasts. The global economic collapse caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has put the futures of millions of people in doubt. “Sometimes you need to burn