Journalists Left Jobless as Zimpapers Lays off Staff Over Lockdown Woes

The devastating consequences of the novel Covid-19 induced national lockdown which has literally razed Zimbabwe’s perrenially struggling economy down, have seen state-owned media giant, Zimpapers laying off scores of its staff over biting financial woes.
The online Zim Morning Post reports that it has seen a communique which was addressed to the affected employees, with contracts for sit-in correspondents and those on fixed monthly retainers terminated forthwith.
In its justification for the termination of the contracts, the Zimpapers management cited the detrimental effects which the pandemic has had on the company’s cash inflow.
The actual figure of the affected employees could not be immediately ascertained during the time of publishing.
“Well, I was advised about my contract termination today (Tuesday), and I hope things will change in the post covid-19. It came as a surprise, but I guess management had to take an inevitable business decision under this Covid-19 pandemic,” an affected employee who refused to be named in fear of reprisal, told Zim Morning Post.
Zimpapers incorporates radio stations which include Star FM ,Nyaminyami and Capitalk.
It is also home to newspaper titles that include The Herald, Sunday Mail, Chronicle, Sunday News, Manica Post, Kwayedza, H-Metro and online content creation channel ZTN.
According to impeccable sources privy to the goings-on, the development has affected several workers across subsidiaries although the actual number of casualties could not be immediately verified.

zimmorningpost
Additional Reporting: Zwnews