By Own Correspondent

A latest study by the International Organisation has established that at least 63 % of the total Zim employed populace is living in the rural areas, signifying shifts in working patterns.

According to the findings in a landmark study titled, “Zimbabwe: Putting decent jobs at the center of the economic development strategy”, Zimbabwe faces significant development challenges, the result of years of negative and erratic economic growth that have sharply reduced the quantity and quality of existing employment.

“Today, a large share of the employed population is living in rural areas 63 % and occupying informal jobs at a rate of 80 %. Indeed, structural transformations have occurred in reverse, with employment moving from urban to rural areas, and from high to lower productivity sectors, mainly in agriculture,” the report said.

The report said during the first decade of this century, the economy contracted by almost half but employment continued to grow at the expense of a deep drop in labour productivity.

“Essentially, without having the choice to remain unemployed and as paid employment declined, Zimbabwean workers shifted towards low productivity activities.

“Between 2009 and 2018 the economy resumed growth and by the end of the period labour productivity recovered to the levels observed in the year 2000 (around USD$1,290 per worker) but labour market outcomes did not improve,” said the study.

The report observed that these changes in the distribution of employment explain the collapse in labour productivity and earnings.

“They also explain why inactivity and unemployment, which now accounts for 17 % of the labour force, have become a rural phenomenon with 74 % of inactive workers and 60 % of unemployed workers living in rural areas.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and associated containment/confinement measures have aggravated these problems. The pandemic reduced access to production inputs and labour productivity,” the report added.