Caiphas Chimhete
28 January 2007
WHEN Zimbabwe was still regarded as the "Jewel of Africa" in the 1980s, getting a formal job was the dream of any unemployed worker.
Back then, the Zimbabwean dollar was at par with the now most sought-after American dollar and slightly less than the British pound.
At that time, you took a few coins to the supermarket to buy groceries for the whole family.
If you were fully employed, you were guaranteed a good life, more or less.
But as the country's economy continues its downward spiral, with the Zimdollar tumbling against the world's major currencies, Zimbabweans' attitude towards formal employment has changed.
Jacqueline Munyaka (35) of Harare resigned from formal employment as a merchandiser in December.
She told The Standard: "It was no longer making sense for me to travel to the city centre every day because transport alone would take up over three quarters of my salary then. I would have to scrounge for money for rentals, school fees and food from friends every month."
In December she was earning $28 000 a month. "Buying and selling" is now her source of livelihood, Munyaka said, without elaborating.
Tendai Muchena (28) of Mutare quit formal employment late last year and is now into vegetable vending at the city's green market, popularly known as Musika Wehuku.
"The touts I went to school with would laugh at me whenever I asked for money. I decided to go it alone and I am doing well now," said Muchena, who holds a teaching diploma from Mutare Teacher's College.
Muchena vowed that he would not return to the classroom, even if the government kept its promise to award them a 300 percent pay increment
"I make more money at the market than in the classroom. In any case, teachers will go for another year without a pay rise," he said.
Munyaka and Muchena are not the only workers who have abandoned formal employment.
Zimbabwean workers are leaving formal employment to join the informal sector in droves as their incomes are being eroded by the ever-escalating inflation.
Some are venturing into vegetable vending, furniture manufacturing, cross-border trading, while others engage in foreign currency dealing. Many others have turned into gold panners or have joined the thriving illegal trade in diamonds.
Latest government figures indicate that the poverty datum-line has topped $370 000, an amount most civil servants do not dream of ever earning.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general, Wellington Chibebe, confirmed that workers were voluntarily quitting employment to stay at home, citing poor wages.
He said most employers were being subsidised by their employees, whom they pay unsustainable wages.
"I have a classic example of a close relative of mine who also left employment because of that. It's very true and the rate is alarming," said Chibebe.
According to the ZCTU, most workers earn between $85 000 and $200 000 a month on average, which he called a "mockery".
The number of workers in formal employment has dwindled from 1,2 million in 2000 to about 800 000 this year, said the ZCTU.
This has been attributed to the 2000 farm invasions and the ripple effects on industry, resulting in the closure of many companies.
Employers' Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) national director, John Mufukari, conceded that employers were cognisant of the hardships that workers were experiencing.
"This is why some employers are arranging transport for their workers or providing bicycles. Every serious employer will ensure that his workers come to work and when they come they work," Mufukari said.
Emcoz, the apex body of employers' organisations, estimates that only 20 percent of all able-bodied people are in formal employment.
Analysts say as long as the economy continues its downward spiral, it would be impossible for employers to award hefty salaries to their workers as the companies are themselves struggling to stay afloat.
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