Zimbabwe is grappling with a growing employment crisis, as sweeping job losses hit the retail and mining industries amid ongoing power shortages, erratic policy implementation, and a faltering global commodities market.
The scale of the retrenchments has brought long-standing economic vulnerabilities to the fore and triggered mounting demands for urgent government intervention to stave off further deterioration.
Across the country, retail chains are either scaling back or shutting their doors altogether. At the same time, major mining firms — particularly in the lithium, platinum, coal, and diamond sectors — are reducing production and cutting jobs. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) has raised the alarm, attributing the crisis to plummeting business confidence and sustained macroeconomic instability.
Denford Mutashu, president of the CZR, highlighted the severe strain the retail sector is under, citing waning consumer demand, exorbitant interest rates, erratic electricity supply, and rising competition from the informal economy.
“The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers shares the concern of workers, consumers, and industry stakeholders over these troubling developments, which reflect broader structural and economic challenges facing the retail and wholesale sector,” said Mutashu. “The sector, which remains one of the largest employers in the formal economy, is under considerable pressure.”
Although comprehensive data remains elusive, insiders describe the crisis as widespread, with many formal retailers unable to remain viable. Mutashu called for the government to roll out a bailout fund, offer concessional loans, lower interest rates on government-backed credit, and introduce regulatory reforms aimed at protecting formal employment.
The mining industry has also been hard hit. Justice Chinhema, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union, expressed alarm at the scale of retrenchments, particularly in the lithium sector, where more than 2,000 workers have already lost their jobs. The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company has initiated a voluntary retrenchment programme, with compulsory job cuts looming.
“The platinum sector is not stable either, with falling global prices driven by geopolitical tensions between the West and the East,” said Chinhema. He added that RioZim, one of Zimbabwe’s key private employers, is on the verge of collapse, endangering over 2,000 additional positions.
Chinhema appealed to the government to expedite policies that promote local value addition of minerals, arguing that processing resources domestically could generate fresh employment opportunities along the mineral value chain.

“If our minerals are not exported [in raw form], then new jobs in the value chain will be emerging,” he said, also voicing concern about the long-term threat posed by the global shift away from coal, which could further undermine job stability in the sector.
Trade unions are also bearing the brunt. Florence Mucha Taruvinga, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), said that the wave of layoffs in the retail sector is depleting union membership and reflects the collapse of formal employment structures.
“We are greatly concerned as a trade union about the current state of affairs,” she said. “The retail industry has retrenched quite a significant number of workers. We have noticed a marked decrease in membership, and this we associate with the closing down of retail outlets and the breakdown in the value chain.”
Taruvinga called for a national dialogue that brings together the government, business leaders, and labour organisations to forge a path forward in line with international labour standards and worker protections.
Caleb Mucheche, chairperson of the Association of Labour Practitioners of Zimbabwe, described the situation as a humanitarian crisis and accused both government and industry of failing to protect workers.
“Some employers are shedding staff due to depressed capacity utilisation, whilst some employees are crying foul due to what may be described as slave working conditions,” said Mucheche. “The working class is swimming and drowning in the jaws of abject poverty and penury.”
While acknowledging official efforts to improve investor sentiment, Mucheche dismissed much of the rhetoric as hollow.
“More practical action is required as opposed to some empty pub or beerhall talk, so that deliverable and tangible results are produced for the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe, not just a talkshop,” he said.
The crisis unfolding in Zimbabwe’s mining and retail sectors not only endangers the formal economy but also places additional strain on public services and tax revenue, pushing more people into informal work or reliance on diaspora remittances. Economists caution that, without swift and decisive policy interventions — including stimulus funding, regulatory clarity, and structural reform — the country could be heading for prolonged de-industrialisation and a deepening labour market collapse with grave social and political implications.