More job losses looming

Although COVID-19 has subsided, more and more workers are at the risk of losing their jobs after the Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development, Ronald Shamukuni reported on the number of companies planning to lay off their workers. Shamukuni told Parliament last week that from April 2020 to February 2022, about 344 workers had been retrenched as businesses are struggling to recover from the impact of the pandemic. This means that the number could go up after Shamukuni said his ministry has currently received 457 notifications by different companies as per Section 25 of the Employment Act to retrench their workers. He said the retrenchments came as a result of businesses struggling to keep their normal operations going due to the restrictions that were adopted by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“At least 457 companies have notified the ministry of their intentions to retrench their staff. Their reasons being that they have lost business during the time of COVID-19, as such they can’t keep up and have no option but to lay off staff,” Shamukuni said. This indicates an increase from the time when the country exited the State of Emergency (SoE) at the end of September 2021. At the time, it was reported that the ministry had received 320 retrenchment notifications from different businesses, leading to 204 workers being axed between April 2020 and July 2021.

Shamukuni explained that some of the businesses that plan to retrench eventually went back against their intentions following discussions with authorities. “We have engaged these companies, shown each the reason that we all have a role to protect workers and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. You will all remember that when the SoE came into effect, we introduced a moratorium on the dismissal of workers due to COVID-19. That was meant to protect against mass job losses,” he added. Shamukuni said, currently there are no financial incentives offered to businesses as COVID-19 relief because the economy is unable to sustain that.

However, in the midst of COVID-19 uncertainties, Shamukuni expressed hope that once the economy recovers, there will be job opportunities. The minister indicated that some of the companies that had put their workers on half salary pay during the lockdown period have started to pay back their workers their outstanding balances. He also explained that government is currently implementing the Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (ERTP), which is meant to fast-track economic recovery and create sustainable jobs for the protection of the working class. “We are implementing the Decent Work Country Programme, which in part is to operationalise the Employment Policy that was passed by Parliament in 2021. It intends to promote productive, gainful decent employment so that workers get decent jobs under friendly and favourable work conditions. We are in the logistics of implementing that policy, even structurally in the ministry we are setting up specific departments that will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of this policy,” he said. Shamukuni was responding to a question asked by Member of Parliament for Gaborone Central Tumisang Healy, who asked the minister to state (i) the number of Batswana who lost their jobs since the outbreak of COVID-19; (ii) measures that are being undertaken to reduce economic hardships exacerbated by the COVID-19 aftereffects.