‘Job market outlook for 2012 bright’

In its latest newsletter, CV People Africa said it expected the  job market to be vibrant during 2012 and had recruited additional staff to deal with the anticipated business.
“The job market activity has been extremely depressed over the last three years, but there appears to be some optimism and current trends suggest a better 2012. To that end, CV People Africa has embarked on a recruitment drive and has four new consultants, three of whom have recently returned from aboard,” said the newsletter.

After years of economic downturn which saw capacity utilisation in most sectors dropping to less than 10 percent, most of the country’s skilled labour left to look for opportunities abroad, with the majority going to South Africa and the United Kingdom.
However, since the adoption of the multiple currencies, production has started picking up resulting in some companies resuming recruitment of workers. Some companies, especially in the food sector, are now operating at close to 100 percent.

CV Africa said it will promote use of web-based advertising which will allow companies seeking workers to receive applications direct from applicants.
It said online advertising would target mostly Zimbabweans in the diaspora who might not have  access to newspapers, the preferred medium of advertising by most employers.
The company said Zimbabwe  had been slow in embracing  the internet for recruitment purposes, preferring instead to use the print media, where applicants are instructed to post or to hand  in their CVs and covering letters to a physical address.

“As a result, the recruiter automatically eliminates a significant number of excellent candidates from the application process. While the print media targets a local catchment area, the internet offers a global reach.
“The majority of Zimbabweans in the diaspora are economic refugees, and given the opportunity to work at home, most would jump at the chance. However, they are unlikely to see your job advertisements in the local print media.

“Another advantage in advertising your vacancies on the internet relates to the cost.”