Human Resources Management. A critical Analysis of Zimbabwe’s unemployment crisis from 1990 to 2012

Résumé ou Introduction

Zimbabwe like most African countries faces a devastating and recurring problem of unemployment. This phenomenon is common amongst the youth that make up more than 60% of the population worldwide . This is a great challenge for all political parties as they use it to try and lure would be voters. In 1990, the official unemployment rates stood at 12% and in 2012, they stood at 7.7% . There has been a discord between the official rates and the studies done by private institutions. The private rates for the two comparative years stand at 50% and 85% respectively . It would be worth noting however that there are several rates for all these years depending on what the motive is for the research. Many of these figures contradict each other in many ways. In 2006, the ILO deduced through a study that the unemployment rate was 95% and 70% amongst the youth. The tendency has always been to follow the private rates as these tended to be for accurate and informative. The government is conservative in their rates as they try to create a positive image in the eyes of the electorate. This paper will critically look at the fluctuations in the numbers of the years, the reasons for such high rates and why they fluctuated and the possible recourse available to the central government and other stakeholders.
It is imperative however to understand at this point that the author of this paper did not embark on a study but merely reviewed the available secondary data. Unemployment has ripple effects in any economy and Zimbabwe is no exception. The socio economic dimension is deep rooted and all-consuming to the detriment of the ordinary Zimbabwean.