Labour Problems in Rhodesia: An Employer's Viewpoint

Abstract

The fundamental “labour problem” which faces an employer in any country is the efficient economical use of the labour resources available to him. Availability in itself constitutes a problem. Related to the Rhodesian scene employers in the last two to three years particularly have been much preoccupied with the shortage of skilled labour, and the efficient and meaningful utilisation of the vast reserve of unskilled labour available to us. I am using the term “skilled” in its broadest sense meaning all categories of labour other than the completely unskilled. Shortages of skills inhibit the employer in attempts to improve the efficiency of the work force as a whole, and generally inhibit expansion. Wage inflation brought about by individual employers bidding for labour, or as a result of “skilled labour” negotiating wage conditions from a position of strength, lead to uncertain cost structures. Uncertain cost structures is merely a euphemism for cost inflation.