adminLabour and Social Welfare, Paurina Mupariwa, made the remarks yesterday in Harare while officially opening a workshop organised by the International Labour Organisation.
The two-day workshop is on consensus- building on the development of the Sadc Employment and Labour Market Information system.
Minister Mupariwa said there were several people and institutions that relied heavily on LMIS and these included job seekers, employers, investors, policy makers and academics.
“More so, without LMIS it would be difficult for member states to fulfil their reporting obligations to the ILO, particularly where statistical data is required.
“It is therefore imperative that every country within our sub-region develop a mechanism through which quantitative LMIS is collected, stored, analysed and disseminated,” said Minister Mupariwa.
Once Sadc member countries had well oiled LMIS, it would become easier to establish a regional system.
ILO deputy director and officer in charge of their country office in Zimbabwe, Mr Alphonse Tabi-Abodo, lamented that labour markets in Southern Africa had changed.
“The change has been mainly due to the forces of trade liberalisation, privatisation, deregulation and globalisation of the economies in the region.
‘This has also been magnified by the advances in technology, new systems of production and organisation of work and lately brain drain,” he said.
Online Reporter