30. April 2026

When Work Stops Working: Rethinking the Future of Labour in Zimbabwe

By Getrude Chigerwe

Many Zimbabweans are beginning to confront a difficult question, Is work still enough to live? For generations, the answer felt certain, go to school, get a job, earn a salary, build a life. But today, that once-straightforward path is no longer guaranteed, and the meaning of work itself is being fundamentally challenged. Workers’ Day often arrives with speeches, marches, and promises, yet beneath the ceremony lies this quieter, more urgent reality.

Work is no longer synonymous with stability. A full-time job does not guarantee a full life. Salaries are stretched thin long before month-end, and even the most disciplined budgeting struggles to cover basic needs. What once counted as essentials, decent housing, reliable transport, quality education, and healthcare, have become increasingly difficult to sustain on a single income. Quietly, almost imperceptibly, the meaning of “making a living” has shifted.

Living has become surviving, and the data mirrors this truth. The 2024–2025 World Bank report places Zimbabwe’s official unemployment rate at around 9%, suggesting relative stability. But it tells only part of the story. The ZIMSTAT Quarterly Labour Force Survey estimates unemployment closer to 20%, while ILOSTAT data shows that nearly 43% of the labour force is underutilised, unemployed, underemployed, or discouraged from seeking work.

More revealing is where people actually work. An estimated 70–80% of Zimbabweans operate in the informal economy, selling goods, running micro-enterprises, or taking on irregular piece jobs. Statistically, they are “employed.” In reality, many are navigating unstable, unprotected, and often insufficient income streams.

Zimbabwe does not have a shortage of work. It has a shortage of decent work.

And yet, people continue to show up. They show up early, stay late, and stretch every dollar with a resilience that is both admirable and deeply concerning. Resilience should never be mistaken for sustainability. This is where the conversation must deepen. Work is no longer just about employment. It is about survival, adaptability, and increasingly, ownership.

Across the country, a quiet shift is underway. Professionals are no longer relying on a single income stream. Teachers are running small businesses. Corporate employees are building side ventures. Creatives are monetising their skills independently. What was once a “side hustle” has become a necessary pillar of financial security.

This shift is not a trend; it is a response, born from economic pressure, limited formal opportunities, and the widening gap between income and the cost of living. Yet within this response lies something powerful: the rise of an ownership mindset. Ownership transforms individuals from dependents into agents of their own futures, allowing them to participate in the economy not just as workers, but as builders of businesses, brands, and communities.

Still, this transition is far from effortless. Many lack access to capital, networks that open doors, or the tools required to grow beyond survival. For many, entrepreneurship is not yet empowerment, it is simply another form of struggle.

Government efforts have increasingly acknowledged this reality. Through frameworks such as Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 1 (2021–2025), there has been a push toward industrialisation, private sector development, and youth-focused skills programmes. Infrastructure projects and small business initiatives have created opportunities and, in some cases, short-term employment. On paper, the direction is clear,  shift from job-seeking to job creation. But the gap between policy and lived experience remains wide.

Access to funding is limited. Support systems are uneven. And for the majority, the informal economy remains the primary, if not the only option. Workers’ associations have been equally clear. Labour movements warn that the national conversation has focused heavily on job creation while overlooking job quality. Wages are struggling to keep pace with the cost of living. Employment does not always guarantee dignity.

Concerns around high taxation, limited social protection, and rising job insecurity persist. Many workers face short-term contracts, weak bargaining power, and conditions that make it difficult to build stable lives. For those in the informal economy, these challenges are magnified. Without benefits, protections, or predictable income, work becomes uncertain and often unsustainable.

The message from workers is consistent, work must not only exist, but it must be dignified. This brings us back to the core issue. The challenge is ensuring that those initiatives translate into meaningful, sustainable livelihoods.

The dignity of labour must be redefined. It is about being able to live from a job, fair wages that reflect real living conditions, workplaces that respect human value, and systems that protect, not exploit, the worker.

If Zimbabwe is to move from employment to empowerment, the conversation must evolve. We must begin to ask how we build systems that support entrepreneurship at scale, how we equip young professionals with skills that extend beyond formal employment, and how we ensure that ownership is not a privilege reserved for a few, but a possibility for many.

The future of work in Zimbabwe will not be shaped solely by the number of jobs created, but by the opportunities enabled. This Workers’ Day, perhaps the most important shift is to stop seeing employment as the end goal and start seeing it as a stepping stone.

It is time to move from celebrating hard work to questioning its reward, from applauding endurance to demanding fairness. A nation cannot grow if its workers are constantly surviving instead of thriving. The real measure of progress may not be how many people are employed, but how many are truly living.

Empowerment begins where survival ends. The future of work is something we must actively shape together.