By Own Correspondent

POOR salaries continue to rock the country’s economy on the back of calls for National Employment Councils to urgently put in place measures to combat the trend.   

Data collected by The Worker confirms the workers are still lagging behind the cost of living peg. As of December 31 2023, the private security guards were paid US$140, the transport sector US$195, the commercial sector US$295 and the clothing sector US$127.

The Commercial sector minimums stood at US$247, Agriculture US$70,00 with 60% payable in ZiG currency and 40% in US$, Ferrochrome sector US$300, Electronics US$232,20, Vehicle Manufacturing and Automotive US$252.The NGOs sector had the highest peg at US$454 while plastics manufacturing stood at US$150, Catering US$300 and Energy sector at US$215.

This is despite the fact that the independent Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) placed the family basket at around US$490 during the period.

Most basics are being charged in the US$ with expenses such as rents being exclusively in hard currency – expenses that the paltry earnings struggle to meet. This is worsened by the fact that most employers prefer settling salary payments in local currency.

The struggle is even worse for the younger generation whose chances to secure a job are next to zero.

According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) around 2, 3 million youths are Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET).