Opinion / Columnist
Ripple effects of employment dismissals
17 Aug 2015 at 15:37hrs | Views
The ongoing retrenchments of employees from different companies have raised eyebrows in economic, cultural and social circles. The unemployment rate has gone up due to the recent 17 July Supreme Court ruling under common law which says employees can be legally dismissed from their companies on three months' notice without going through the whole retrenchment process.
Unemployment has many negative effects especially on the nations' security. If the unemployment percentages continue to rise, there will be indeed suffering not only of individuals who would have been dismissed but also of the family members of the victims of those retrenched.
Additionally, the effects of unemployment can quickly become an unpleasant cycle for the economy. The services of those who would have been dismissed from their working places contributed immensely to the development of the economy in one way or the other.
However, it is pleasing that the Government is in the process of amending those sections of the common law that has triggered the massive retrenchments of employees in both the private sector and parastatals. As of now, the proposed amendments to the Labour Act will eliminate the common law rights of employers to dismiss workers on three months notice.
President Mugabe recently said that it is the labour law which is disadvantaging workers hence, there is really need to amend it to ensure that employees are not fired willy-nilly by their superiors.
Normally when a person loses his/her job there may be losing of skills especially when one takes too long without going back to work. The unemployed will not be able to put his/her skills to use.
Most people are earning a living through informal business such as vending and carpentry. The number of vendors currently operating in undesignated areas is exorbitant. One will then wonder where all those who were retrenched from their companies will go to start informal business.
It would be wiser for those constructing shopping stalls along Simon Mazorodze to speed up their work so that those already dismissed from their companies may begin informal business.
This may assist in curbing the rate of crime and prostitution which are usually some of the major ills of unemployment.
Lastly, those affected by the massive retrenchments should face the reality of the loss and find other ways of earning a living. Momentarily, those dismissed from different companies can start farming projects such as poultry and piggery.
Source - Chido Chikuni
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