“There have been various measures taken by the government to support greater local production. If these are properly implemented, it is highly likely the current situation can be turned around by early next year,” he said.
But for now job losses continue to escalate. “The actual figures of how many workers have lost their jobs could be higher than reported by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) because there are companies and unions that do not disclose information regarding retrenched workers,” said Msipa.
According to the ZCTU, a total of 4,172 workers lost their jobs between January and September this year. Last year, the organisation reported 75 company closures and 9,617 job losses.
Most workers in the security, engineering, clothing and textile, timber and allied industries, mining, packaging, motor industry and printing sectors had lost their jobs, said ZCTU.
According to 2013 research by the Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit (ZEPARU) failure by government to come up with an explicit employment policy and the deteriorating macroeconomic environment was responsible for increased company closures and job losses.
Post published in: Business