Digitalisation reduces the number of jobs in Zimbabwe banks by 75%

By Agencies

Zimbabwe’s union of bank and related employees, ZIBAWU, says 75% of jobs in the sector have been eliminated since the turn of the millennium due to accelerated digitalization and socio-political factors that have affected the entire nation over the past two decades.

Digitalization has a direct impact on employment. The number of bank branches is decreasing.

Trade unionist Peter Mutasa told NewZimbabwe.com that the deliberations of the high-level congress of workers in the country’s banking sector deplored the dwindling workforce.

“We’ve seen a decline in our workforce from 12,000 in the late 1990s to about 3,000 today.

The economy, which has been stagnant for several decades and is in a difficult situation, has taken a heavy toll on trade unionism.

The trade unionist said that the labour law regime has remained restrictive for labour freedoms, a situation that he said is aggravated by the fact that the political environment has become toxic for trade unions, as the government treats all trade unions with suspicion and as enemies of the state.

Mutasa said the convention established that bankers face different forms of mental health problems due to the economic and social crisis, job demands and sometimes interpersonal conflicts, both at work and in society.

He added that the Convention had also devoted time to assessing the state of social security in the country, having found that many workers were receiving a miserable pension, with no financial security worthy of the name, and with insignificant pensions.

“We have found that most of the problems we face do not emanate from the labour market, but from politics. We recognise that there is a crisis of governance that affects the economy, society and public services.

“We have therefore decided to build active citizenship through massive civic and political education of our members and the communities around us,” he concluded.