27% of potential labour force now discouraged

LETTICIA MAGOMBO

At least 27% of the potential labour force is now discouraged job seekers, meaning they are no longer looking for employment, a Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) labour force survey report shows.

Zimbabwe currently has a working age population of 9.2m people and those actively participating in the labour force accounts for 43.7%.

National unemployment is currently sitting at 47%.

Many are frustrated by lack of employment opportunities due to the worsening economic crisis in Zimbabwe, characterised by company closures, retrenchments and low wages.

The weak Zimbabwe dollar is also exacerbating the situation. Many have turned to vending to eke out an honest living as the formal employment is no longer attractive.

Employment in the formal sector, according to ZimStat, is at 27.9% while the informal sector accounts for 44.7%.

According to ZimStat, Mashonaland West and East have the highest percentage of discouraged job seekers at 15.1% and 14.1% respectively.

The least discouraged job seekers are those in Matabeleland North and South which circulated around the 3% mark despite the two having the highest unemployment rates with Matabeleland North having the highest rate at 36.7%.

Employment policies are also not strongly applied, which means that those who are able to get employment tend to be subjected to unscrupulous labour practices such as being underpaid and having no contracts in place meaning their jobs can be terminated without notice.

The ZimStat survey said 1.2% of the working age population lost their jobs three months prior to the survey period with Harare recording the highest percentage of job losses at 22.6%.

There has also been a surge in work related illnesses and injuries of 2.2% which could also be a deterrent to job seeking particularly in the manufacturing and mining field.

Disability might also be a deterrent for the potential labour force resulting from the fact that less than 1% of persons with functional disability are employed according to the survey.