The employment(unemployment) statistics is a very controversial topic as the rate depends on the definition of employment or unemployment being used. Two of these definitions are below and will help us to analyse this important aspect of the economy. Definition 1(used by government) states that "the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.". Take note that the unemployment rate can also be defined as "the number of people actively looking for a job divided by the labour force" Definition 2(used by most civic organisations) simply defines unemployment as lack of any means of contributing to the country’s gross domestic product or The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines unemployed persons as those aged 15 years and above who, during the specified period, are without work, currently available for work and actively seeking employment." Simply put or in layman language, unemployment occurs when a person who is actively searching for a job is unable to find it. This includes those who have given up the search. And there are countless graduates, holders of degrees, diplomas, vocational qualifications and O and A level certificates who simply can’t find jobs in Zimbabwe. This is a fact that no one can dispute. Furthermore, Changes in unemployment depend mostly on inflows made up of non-employed people starting to look for jobs, of employed people who lose their jobs and look for new ones and of people who stop looking for employment. According to the governments latest data, It claims that only about 10.7% of our people are unemployed. This compares favourably with majority of the countries in the world whose rates of unemployment are way above this. South Africa as an example has unemployment rate currently at 25.6%. Further analysis shows that unemployment figures in Zimbabwe excludes peasant farmers as they are viewed as gainfully employed. According to ZimStat survey "It is noted that most provinces with a large rural component are mainly engaged in agriculture as the main economic activity hence depicting low levels of unemployment,”. Zimstat also says that unemployment levels are higher in urban areas than in rural areas. However, According to another ZimStats survey, Poverty and Poverty Datum Line Analysis in Zimbabwe 2011-2012,shows that poverty prevalence is far worse in rural areas than in urban Zimbabwe. So in essence, the regions with higher employment figures(rural) are also the ones with the highest poverty levels. This surely does not make any sense at all does it? The civic and non-governmental organisations on the other hand put the figures of the unemployed anywhere between 70% to 95%. The government accounts for majority of those formally employed whilst some are in the informal trade. Job creation is at an all time low at this point in time. In fact most companies are downgrading their operations and some still closing shop all together. This does not auger well with the drive to create 2,2 miliion jobs as Zanu pf promised the electorate in their election manifesto. To mitigate against the effects of unemployment especially amongst the youth, Government initiated an inclusive process of developing a National Employment Policy Framework in 2007 to deal with the challenge of unemployment. The Zimbabwe National Employment Policy Framework (ZiNEPF) was adopted by Cabinet in June 2010 to integrate employment into all policy frameworks (macro and sectoral). The results of this action is still to be seen as there has been no tangible improvement in the employment outlook in the country. A follow-up will be made with the relevant authorities to see the challenges they faced or the reason for non-improvement in the figures will be made in due course. It will also improve the accountability of these officials as we track them in these national programmes. Thank you
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 08:38:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015