The IPC Employment Conditions Survey Report 2018

Introduction

The employment conditions survey was conducted to gauge employee confidence in the current economic environment. Employees were asked questions related to their employment and the general economic climate.

Key Findings

• The majority of the participants in this survey (90%) are currently employed.
• 59% of participants are in managerial level and 41% are in non-managerial level.
• Most of the participants (59%) said their jobs are stressful, 26% said their jobs are not stressful and 15% said their jobs are extremely stressful.
• 35% of the participants are confident about finding another job, 25% are somehow confident, 24% are very confident and 15% are not confident about finding another job.
• Most of participants (57%) are not confident at all about the economy improving in the short term.
• When asked “What stresses them the most?’, most of participants (48%) said high prices of commodities, 19% said poor working conditions, 13% said high school fees for my children, 11% said fuel shortages, 7% said bad manager and 2% said hunger.
• Most of the participants (52%) said if the economic conditions fail to improve in the short term they would look at going into the diaspora, 28% said they would stay in Zimbabwe no matter the conditions and 12% said looking for a new job locally.
• When asked if they are doing other business besides their job to supplement their income from work 57% of the participants said yes and 43% said no.
• When asked about their biggest problem facing their organization 63% of the participants said harsh economic environment, 26% said poor management and 11% said lack of resources.

Methodology

A questionnaire with 11 questions was emailed to employees from various organisations on our mailing list. A total of 651 individuals of varied age groups, education levels, gender, employment positions and economic sectors participated in this survey.

Sample Profile

Distribution of participants by economic sector is shown in the table below:

Financial services and manufacturing are by far the largest industries in this survey contributing 17.6% and 14.7% respectively.

Results

Other comments mentioned by participants are;

• Consulting
• Entrepreneur
• I am an employer
• Self employed

35% of the participants are confident about finding another job, 25% are somehow confident, 24% are very confident and 15% are not confident about finding another job.

Most of the participants (60%) in the managerial level are confident and very confident that they will find another job. The same trend was observed for participants in the non-managerial category (58% are confident and very confident). However, from the graph, one may conclude that, a large proportion of participants in the non-managerial category are not confident of finding another job as compared to those in the managerial category.

57% of the participants are not confident at all about the economy improving in the short term, 28% are somehow confident, 11% are confident and 4% are very confident.

Most of the participants (85%) in the managerial level are not confident about the economy improving in the short term. The same trend was observed for participants in the non-managerial category (87% not confident all and somehow confident).

48% of the participants said high prices of commodities stresses the most, 19% said poor working conditions, 13% said high school fees for my children, 11% said fuel shortages, 7% said bad manager and 2% said hunger stresses them the most.

52% of the participants said if the economic conditions fail to improve in the short term they would look at going into the diaspora, 28% said they would stay in Zimbabwe no matter the conditions, 12% said looking for a new job locally and 8% mentioned other comments.

Other comments mentioned by participants are;

• Already in diaspora
• At my age I feel I have no other choice other than staying
• Embark on an income generating project to supplement the salary
• Ensuring I get my projects up and running
• Entrepreneurship
• Expanding my  business
• Explore opportunities in agriculture
• Exploring other income-generating projects
• Find a different business angle
• Forming my own company
• Further my studies
• Furthering studies on a full scholarship
• Getting more part times
• Going into consultancy full time
• Human Resources not a scarce skill outside the country hence stay local
• Looking for a new job outside Zimbabwe
• Looking for another Job locally and or starting something of my own
• Private investments
• Running on business
• Self employed

Most of the participants (64%) in the managerial level are said they would look at going into the diaspora if the economic conditions fail to improve in the short term.

When asked if they are doing other business besides their job to supplement their income from work 57% said yes and 43% said no.

When asked about their biggest problem facing their organization 63% said harsh economic environment, 26% said poor management and 11% said lack of resources.

Conclusion

Employment confidence is not likely to increase until there is tangible evidence that the economy is creating new jobs. These results are reflective of what we are seeing in the broader economy. Resuscitating the economy will require all stakeholders: government, employers and employees to work together.

About the Authors

Memory Nguwi (Registered Psychologist) is the Managing Consultant of Industrial Psychology Consultants (IPC). You may contact him by email at mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com

Benjamin Sombi is a Manager (Workforce Analytics & Research) at Industrial Psychology Consultants (IPC). You may contact him by email at benjamin@ipcconsultants.com

Taurai Masundais a Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (IPC). You may contact him by email at taurai@ipcconsultants.com

If you would like to discuss this report, please contact one of the authors.