By Victor Fanuel
HARARE — Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited Group is immediately retrenching 154 workers across its newspapers, radio stations and television operation, with employees being issued individual letters outlining their severance packages from Wednesday.
Affected operations include The Herald, The Sunday Mail, Chronicle, Star FM, Diamond FM and the group’s television operation, as the state-owned media giant cuts its workforce amid mounting pressure on its traditional business.
A Group Works Council meeting held in Harare on Wednesday discussed the restructuring, including retrenchments and short-time working across the company’s divisions.
Majority of the affected workers earned between US$350 and US$400 a month, according to information from within the company.
Employees with as much as 20 years of service could leave with packages of about US$8,000, workers said, raising concerns over how long such payments can sustain families after decades of employment.
A worker with two decades at Zimpapers and a package of about US$8,000 could see the money rapidly consumed by rent, school fees, food and other household expenses.
Zimpapers has no company pension fund, leaving retrenched employees without an employer-backed retirement cushion as they enter a struggling job market.
The Group had 971 employees at the end of 2024, according to its published figures.
With 154 jobs targeted for removal, the retrenchments represent about 16 %of that reported workforce, assuming the headcount has remained broadly unchanged.
Board chairperson Doreen Sibanda, announcing the restructuring on Wednesday, pointed to technological change and shifting audience habits as the reasons for the overhaul.
“These changes require the reorganisation of operations, consolidation of functions, and optimisation of organisational structures.
“As a result, certain positions have become redundant within the revised operating model, and the Company has commenced a retrenchment process in compliance with applicable labour laws and established human resources procedures.
“Zimpapers remains committed to treating all affected employees with fairness, dignity and respect throughout the process while continuing to deliver quality content and services to its audiences, advertisers, shareholders and other stakeholders,” Sibanda said.
Sibanda’s statement, however, offers little detail on what the restructuring means for the 154 employees losing their jobs, beyond saying they will be treated with “fairness, dignity and respect”.
There is no mention in the statement of the workers’ monthly earnings, the severance packages being offered to long-serving employees or the absence of a company pension fund — issues that will determine how retrenched employees cope after leaving Zimpapers.
Management has also blamed the pressure on the traditional media business on declining print advertising, changing audience behaviour and the migration of consumers to digital platforms.
“Traditional media business models are collapsing, driven by shifting audience behaviour, platform fragmentation and the rise of digital consumption,” chief executive William Chikoto told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in June.
“Our audiences are growing, our content model has been modernised and our revenue streams are diversifying,” Chikoto said, outlining the group’s push towards becoming a digitally driven enterprise.
Retrenchments are taking place against a backdrop of growing visibility and influence of Varakashi, a term commonly used for pro-Zanu PF social-media activists who have become prominent players in Zimbabwe’s online political, social and social-economic battles.
Critics accuse some of the activists of operating as partisan campaigners rather than independent commentators, defending Zanu PF while attacking its political opponents and critics.
Claims have also surfaced that some Varakashi operate as paid online vendors who receive material benefits from senior Zanu PF politicians and party-linked networks.
Such allegations vary between individuals and have not been established in every case.
Access to senior Zanu PF officials, government events and party-linked networks enjoyed by some activists has fuelled debate over the relationship between political power and online influence.
Professional journalists, meanwhile, work within formal newsroom structures and are subject to editorial policies and professional codes, while political social-media operators can build substantial audiences without conventional media employment.
Zimpapers says its restructuring is intended to secure long-term competitiveness and financial sustainability as the media industry undergoes a digital shift.
