By Own Correspondent

THE recent indications of interest to attract Construction workers from Zimbabwe by Russia are set to ease job shortages currently bedeviling the country.

Official records indicate that over 90% of Zimbabwe’s workforce is currently involved in informalised work which often falls far short of decent work standards which are often characterised by underpayments and longer working hours.

However, recent indications which saw the Russian housing and construction deputy minister Nikita Stasishin meeting   Zimbabwe’s housing minister Zhemu Soda at the World Urban Forum in Cairo later last year could open up job opportunities for the country’s sector.

The Russians have since agreed to discuss the supply of construction workers once modalities have been put in place.

The parties have since  agreed on a future visit by a Russian delegation to discuss proposals.

In a related development , the Russian president Vladimir Putin told a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on 7 November 2024 that Russia’s labour shortage was “one of the main obstacles to our economic growth”.

“We have half a million people or even 600,000 who can get a job in construction right now, and the industry will not notice,” he said.

“We need 250,000 people in manufacturing industry right now, and it would not cover all its needs either,” he added.

If the deal sails through the workers who are poised for the jobs exports will join the millions of other citizens abroad who are currently contributing towards the economy’s GDP through Diaspora remittances.

However, labor experts have in the past scrutinized such deals fearing that workers’ rights maybe violated immensely if they endorse the working and transfer agreements without proper legal representation.