More than 200 000 formal jobs have been created between November 2017 and the end of last month boosting employment by 20 percent backed by 235 000 more now earning in the informal sector.

Further, 86 new inward investments and new employers were registered in 2018 and 2019, indicating keenness of investors to take up opportunities in Zimbabwe following the removal by the Second Republic of investment bottlenecks.

Of the new formal jobs, agriculture had the highest growth rate in employment in line with Government’s efforts to boost productivity to achieve food self-sufficiency and boost exports, followed by construction and the energy sector.

Agriculture saw its employment total rise 41 percent, construction saw 40 percent more jobs and energy 37 percent more.

The creation of more jobs dovetails with Government and Zanu PF’s policy of “jobs, jobs, jobs”, to improve the people’s living standards.

Yesterday, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Professor Paul Mavima, Minister of Industry and Commerce Dr Sekai Nzenza and Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Dr Sithembiso Nyoni briefed Cabinet on job creation trends in all sectors.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said that the 212 573 jobs were created despite a plethora of challenges including foreign currency shortages, currency volatility as well as natural calamities such as droughts, cyclones and Covid-19.

She said the formal employment figures increased from 1 083 823 in 2017 to 1 296 396 at the end of last month according to data from the National Social Security Authority (NSSA), which tracks formal employment.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have become an equally important employment driver since the advent of the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa.

In the SMEs sector, 235 635 jobs were created, with the majority of jobs (22 percent) in agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, retail trade (21 percent), manufacturing (15 percent), mining (9 percent) and education (8 percent).

Minister Mutsvangwa said in terms of investments, 86 new investments and new employers were registered between 2018 and 2019.

“Forty of the businesses were in the commerce sector and 34 in fabricated metal products and machinery. Regarding retrenchments, the statistics from the Retrenchment Board show a declining trend since the advent of the Second Republic.

“In 2017, 4 493 workers were laid off, whereas 1 668 lost their jobs in 2018 and 1 461 in 2019. By the end of June 2020, a total of 638 workers had been laid off,” she said. -Herald