The Zimbabwe Independent, Thursday, 09 July 2009
MORE than eight in every 10 formally employed workers in Zimbabwe will
not encourage their relatives in the Diaspora to come back home despite
being relatively optimistic of the inclusive government formed in February.
An employee confidence survey carried by Industrial Psychology
Consultants, a human resources think tank in June shows that 83% of workers
in the survey sample – drawn from industry and commerce -would advise their
relatives and peers beyond the borders to continue working outside the
country.
Interestingly this poll was conducted in the same month Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai — during his three-week international tour seeking to
engage Zimbabwe with the West and the United States — failed to convince
Zimbabweans in the United Kingdom to come back home.
“When asked what advice they will give to their Diaspora relatives at
this stage of our economic development, 83,1% of the respondents said
‘hold-on there. It is still a long way to go’ and 16,9% said ‘come back home
now, employment opportunities are available’,” reads the survey.
“While the economy seems to be stabilising the majority of respondents
feel it is not yet the time to advise their Diaspora relatives and friends
to come back home. There is still a lot of work to be done on the ground by
the inclusive government to increase the confidence of the populace.”
An area of major concern for employees according to the survey is that
the economy is not creating more jobs as shown by 59,6% of formally employed
not feeling that they were secure in their current jobs and were actively
searching for other job opportunities. With manufacturing industry operating
at 10% capacity and most banks on flexi-time, workers in the two sectors
seemed hardest hit by the transitional period.
Low salaries, the poll further stated, would make it difficult for
companies to attract skilled labour that moved to more economically active
countries.
“While the government and the private sector have been holding
conference after conference, including rebranding of the country in order to
attract foreign investment thereby creating employment, very little is
happening on the ground to impact positively on the lives of the working
population. The government has been very slow to implement key initiatives
to inspire confidence in working population,” the survey said.
However, at least half of Zimbabwean workers continue to pin their
hopes on their current employers while the other half considers moving on.
An estimated 50,7% of employers interviewed in the survey feel that
the future of the employees was bright, compared to 49,30% who said they do
not see a bright future for their employees.
When asked if they were confident of finding a new job in the current
environment, 76% of the respondents said yes. Out of these, 83% aged below
25 years said they were confident of finding a new job compared to 87% in
the 26 – 30 age group, 70% in the 30 – 40 age group and 80% of those above
40 years.
Eighty percent of the respondents said they were confident of getting
a new job compared to 66% for the females out of the hopefuls, while 78% of
the managerial employees also indicated that they were confident of getting
a new job.
When analysed by marital status 76% of married employees said they
were confident of getting a job compared to 82% for the single (never
married) and 67% for the single (married before).
At least 34% of the interviewed workers view career development as the
major source of stress followed by 28% who view “lack of job security’ as
another stressor. More than a 10th of workers according to the poll are
discontent over management style with 6% worried about “lack of
communication on the developments in the company”.
The cited top stressors seem to cut across all the demographic
categories like age and gender. “Those with post graduation qualifications
are more worried about job security (36%), while those with first degrees
(40,4%) and those with diplomas (47,9%) are worried about developing their
career. Employees with ‘A’ Levels are stressed by lack of job security,” the
report said.
NOTE: This is an opinion survey; it does not query entrepreneurs or analyse any opportunities for small business start-ups. Understandably the survey reveals that the youth are the most pessimistic about getting a job. At present the most reliable job opportunities are with NGOs which pay salaries in US$ or Rands.
There are an estimated FOUR MILLION Zimbabweans in the diaspora, working in countries all over the world.
