Do We Really Value Our Jobs in Zambia?

By Brian Mulenga 

Failure to get a job is not always the Government's fault. I can attest as someone who does job interviews the really poor quality of graduates coming out of our colleges and Universities.

First of all let us understand one another here, jobs are not anybody's right. The only reason why someone is employed by any organization is because they can add value to that organization. 

Second, organizations do not employ paper qualifications they employ people with the skills profile to enable them to meet their objectives. 

Third, organizations especially profit making ones are looking for performers and not conformers. 

I can assure you, Zambia has a very serious skill shortage and it is not a coincidence that we have an influx of foreigners taking what should be Zambian jobs. 

A friend of mine recently won a contract and I was stunned when I went to see him he had a team of Indians, Zimbabweans and South Africans. His reasons were that; 

1. Zambians have a poor work attitude. An 0800 to 1700 work culture 

2. Zambians do not pay attention to detail nor pay attention to quality 

3. Zambians lack a maintenance culture. Lost, damaged and stolen equipment is the norm when he uses Zambians. 

4. The expatriates are cheaper. I said what ? He said yes the foreigners are cheaper. Not only do they do better work and of better quality but they accept pay Zambians cannot. 

Now patriotism does not put food on the table. In business nobody cares what colour the mouse is as long as it catches mice. I think the KK years scarred Zambia deeply and we have come to accept mediocrity as the norm. A sense of entitlement has also crept in. I am a Zambian so I deserve a job regardless if I do a stroke a work. 

My final anecdote is about the Manda Hill extension. It fell behind schedule and the contractor was forced to import artisans from South Africa and Zimbabwe. Do you know why ? Theft, losses and damage to equipment was rampant. Quality of work was poor and worst of all output was poor. 

Brings me back to tomatoes and degrees. I did not see talent being wasted when the six young men demonstrated. I saw six whiners who expect handouts. Who think because they have a degree they expect jobs. Nothing I have read so far can disabuse me of this notion. 

Oh yeah one more story. Someone I know was building a huge mansion somewhere in Lusaka. As I drove by I saw a Chinese work crew hard at work. I asked the man why he employed the CHinese. "These guys will finish the job on time and meet the budget ". What about the Zambians. "I tried those. They never ever started work on time. They where behind schedule and they cost me money. Don't know how many times I asked them to redo stuff". 

Jobs are there not enough for everyone but even the ones available, the employers have a hard time getting Zambians to be productive. 

One last story. Another guy I know runs a restaurant. A posh restaurant at one of the shopping malls. He has CCTV watching the workers all the time. This is what he said. Maybe I should just bring Zimbabweans. These guys !!! Look". The ice cream machine had not been cleaned inside and a blackish gunk was forming inside. "They cant wait to knock. Cleaning the machines is a chore they must do before knocking off. If you don't stand there with a whip, they do things like this". Needless to say. I will never buy an ice cream from there. 

So there you have it. Even when we have jobs. We have to pull up our socks. Jobs are not a right. Jobs are created so that investors (private sector), donors (NGOs) or taxpayers (public sector) get a decent return on their money.