Consultancy firm to host labour talks

players from the private sector.
Brainsworth executive consultant Mr Artwell Java said the breakfast meeting is part of a series running under the theme “Raising productivity levels through human capital”.
“This is part of a series of labour-focused workshops to discuss the critical labour issues to find a lasting solution to improve productivity levels that will result in local businesses being able to capitalise on human capital which is key to economic growth and development,” he said.
The topical issue in Zimbabwe’s labour environment is the high cost of labour.
Business is arguing that labour now ranks second after raw materials in terms of contribution to production costs, undermining its competitiveness both locally and the region.
According to business, this has arisen from unrealistic wage increments by national employment councils  acting on flawed provisions of the Labour Relations Act.
The Government is, however, in the process of amending the Act, but involved parties contend that the process is taking too long.
Meanwhile, Brainsworth Consulting Group recently hosted the 2012 Labour and Business Symposium and addressed issues to deal with raising productivity levels through human capital as key note address among other business and labour related issues.
The symposium attracted captains of industries of different companies, human resource personnel from various institutions and workers’ unions representatives.
Speaking during that event, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara urged workers to strive to remain relevant in the workplace by acquiring new skills, embracing new technologies.
Labour and Social Services Deputy Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the dollarisation of the economy had resulted in an upsurge in retrenchments, as companies struggle to adjust to the new demands of the economy which was no longer possible to print or “burn” money to pay workers’ salaries.
Mrs Mutsvangwa urged companies to come up with new strategies to cope with the challenges in respect of labour that ensued after the dollarisation of the economy.