Staff Writer
ZIMBABWE National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) projects that at the end of the five weeks long Covid19 lockdown companies will be left with no choice except to chop both formal and informal jobs due to critical disruptions to affect the economy.
The Commerce group’s report published Monday titled “Sustainable and Flexible Economic Interventions to Address Covid19” contains the worrisome statistics,
“Workforce will be made redundant as some businesses will not be able to adapt to the effects of Covid-19 .There is going to be loss of employment, 25% of permanent formal jobs will be lost and 75% of casual/temporary formal jobs will be lost as businesses lay off workers given the sharp contraction in many sectors, .
The report says tourism sector will be the hardest hit as it is expected to shed almost 25% of the total formal sector employment followed by the manufacturing sector.
“If the total lockdown is extended without resorting to partial lockdown some of the leisure and tourism operators might completely collapse With Government having set the minimum wage, affordability by businesses is going to be challenge as businesses adjust due to the effects of covid-19,” the report says.
The document confirms earlier findings by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) suggesting that economic performance and jobs will be affected due to the lockdown.
“As an exporter of raw commodities, Zimbabwe is likely to be negatively affected, posing threats to its economic recovery,” said the ZCTU.
The union said diaspora remittances will also slow down because most Zimbabweans are based in countries hardest hit by the pandemic.
The labour union said humanitarian assistance will severely dwindle as wealthy countries will channel surplus resources to support their government in mitigating the pandemic’s effects.
ZCTU also projected that the hardest hit sectors will be tourism, health, retail and the services sector hence the need for government to put in place robust mechanisms to provide social safety nets for its citizens.
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