Overview

Population - 15.092 million

GDP: 26.09 (in billion USD)

 Economic Overview 

• Zimbabwe’s economy consists of tertiary industries.
• Unemployment rate: 4.99%
• Taxes and tariffs are high.
• State regulation is costly for people working in companies. 
• Starting or closing a business takes time and is expensive.
• Regulations imposed on the labor market have made hiring and terminating work a lengthy process.
• Low production levels, trade gap, insignificant foreign direct investment, and lack of access to international finance have led to the economy’s decline.

Zimbabwe’s total public debt is USD 11.1 billion (53.9% of GDP), of which 95.6% is external.

Market Size

• South Africa, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates are the top three trade partners of Zimbabwe.
• Exported items such as precious stones and metals, tobacco, and ores find the surplus market in the country.
• South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Mozambique, Belgium, and Zambia carry out flourishing export businesses with Zimbabwe.
• Singapore, China, India, and Mauritius are some of the top countries that import goods from Zimbabwe.
• Zimbabwe’s GDP of around USD 20 billion is primarily dominated by agriculture, mining, and services. The manufacturing sector’s contribution to GDP has declined from 25% to 19% due to several factors, including foreign exchange shortages and a poor economic environment.
• The country is an important exporter of gold, platinum, chrome, tobacco, and cotton. The government introduced measures that put a restriction on the import of goods, thus resulting in a decline of the current import sector.

The following table shows a glimpse of the statistics of importing goods across various categories:

A Brief Glimpse of Industries

• A large part of the country is run based on the industrial sector, contributing to about  25.1% of the total gross domestic product (GDP) of USD 16.29 billion.
• Agriculture and mining activities largely contribute to export. Agriculture also plays a significant role with a contribution of around 20.3% of the total GDP.
• The country has rich reserves of metallurgical grade coal, copper, nickel, gold, platinum, and iron ore.
• Mining produces export materials such as coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, diamonds, clay, and steel, while materials include wood products, cement, etc., for overseas trade.
• The statistical data on gold production reveals that the amount of gold produced every year in Zimbabwe is a massive 59,776 pounds.
• Marange field is responsible for producing an estimated 12 million carats of diamonds in 2014, which were worth more than USD 350 million.
• Commercial farming involving growing cash crops like cotton, coffee, fruits, peanuts, and tobacco are prevalent sources of living and income.
• Small-scale farmers mostly grow wheat and maize that are mostly of the subsistence type.
• The scenario of the agriculture, mining, energy, infrastructure, healthcare, and tourism sectors showcase opportunities to explore.
• International firms often consider joining hands with the market of this country of over 14 million people going by the above numbers. 
• Trade in the form of services and tariffs is another essential source of industrial income for the people.
• The tourism industry statistics from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) show that tourist arrivals to Zimbabwe fell by 11% in 2019. The situation deteriorated following the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in the closure of international travel.

Internet Connectivity and Telecommunications

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) oversees ISP licensing. An average of USD 2–4 million is spent on licenses depending on the level of service the ISP wished to provide. Liquid Telecom, a subsidiary of Econet Wireless, is known to be the leading internet player in Zimbabwe. They hold the record of the largest local fiber network in the country and also operate the largest fiber network in Africa.

Cost of Living In Zimbabwe

The expenses of living in any place differ largely depending on the requirements and amenities a person wants. Zimbabwe is home to some of the cheapest living deals and rents across the globe.

Salaries and Incentives

Learn more about the exclusive offers of Skuad to reduce your hiring costs.

Salary Structure 

The salary and the allowances are decided based on the nature of work and the work location, whether it is in the city center or a town. Transport connectivity and experience also matters in salary payscale.

The currency strength of Zimbabwe is 1 (ZWD) = USD 0.0028.

The salary range is between 54k to 930k, with a median of 234k on average.

Talent

Fair work-life balance, working days between eight and ten hours, with a minimum wage of approximately USD 133 per month, is an example of typical job standards in Zimbabwe. Approximately a sales manager in Zimbabwe can expect a salary of USD 1,500 per month while teaching as a profession can make around USD 1,000. Experienced workers in the fields of hospitality and healthcare earn an income of about USD 1,000 per month. Other occupations primarily involve utilizing resources and demonstrating expertise in sectors such as metallurgical industries, tourism industries, healthcare, engineering, and education.

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Hiring Cost

Hiring cost depends on the currency value, demographic location, qualification of the potential employees, local laws, and the nature of jobs one is trying to accomplish. Each job is different, so is the cost.

Things to Consider:

Employment Laws

Zimbabwe has its own Ministry of Labor. The Labor Act of 1985 was amended in 2015. Violating the law is a punishable offense, and violation may lead to imprisonment. In the case of employability, some rules are specific to each company.

Four points of focus after the amendment in the 2015 act are as follows:

(a) termination in terms of employment should follow the model code made under section 101(9)

(b) the employer and employee mutually agree in writing to the termination of the contract

(c) the employee was engaged for a fixed period or some performance of some specific service

(d) section 12C for any under retrenchment

Other than this condition, employers cannot terminate an employee on notice.

The Laws are as follows:

Role of Skuad to Hire in Zimbabwe

Skuad enables organizations to build remote teams anywhere in the world. You can build your team in over 150+ countries. Our Global HR platform helps companies hire exceptional workers around the globe. With our skills, we optimize the requirements with optimal output.

International remote hiring is a tiresome process. Global payroll compliances, local employment laws, and taxations are quite challenging to manage.

To ease this situation, Skuad can help build the following:

• Remote teams
• Hire part-time contractual or full-time employees worldwide
• We help to make payrolls and manage the required tools under one invoice

Building remote teams are not easy, but with the help of our unified employment solution, Building and managing teams in Zimbabwe is simplified.

Doubt in mind? Contact Skuad.