When the click of a button swallows jobs

By The NewsDay | Mar. 2, 2013 | 3 Min read

“GET 5% discount plus 10 free smss when you recharge using Ecocash,” reads a message from one local mobile operator as it encourages subscribers to purchase airtime electronically.

REPORT BY DON MAKANYANGA

Each time Alvin Makamure (34) reads this, turmoil is created in his mind as he tries to come to terms with his horrific retrenchment in 2008 from a local industry where he had been a messenger. He then ventured into selling newspapers at a commission while supplementing the resultant meagre income with airtime vending, but technology would have none of it, as it descended to haunt him.

For all the benefits of living in a connected world, or in fact, at a time when globalisation has brought the world into one village, there is one huge disconnect — the economy seems to be growing, but it is not creating jobs.

Makamure related how “the click of a button” slowly transformed his decent lifestyle into making a vagrant out of him, as his only source of income has been taken over by the advancement in technology.

“Technology has forced newspaper and airtime vendors to operate on a low note hence relegating us to the abyss of poverty,” Makamure said.

Mobile density in Zimbabwe is hovering at around 91% and the majority of people can now read newspapers online and purchase airtime through their personal mobile phones.

Makamure further bemoaned the advent of technology saying it had dented profit margins.

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“Most of our customers are now opting to buy airtime through Ecocash or through their bank at the click of a button.”

Turning on to newspapers, he appealed to media houses to delay updating their sites so that the hard copies can be sold for longer on the streets.

“We are appealing to media houses that they delay updating their websites to midday to enable us to sell a few more copies and boost our commission which has been affected by the emergence of the Internet,” the worried newspaper vendor said.

He urged the government to come up with measures to curb the development as it will see a lot of people being pushed to the doldrums of poverty if the issue is not addressed.

“The government has of late been making noise about the indigenisation programme to empower local people, yet they are doing nothing to protect the already existing small businesses.

“Relevant authorities should come up with measures that will address and protect us from technology because if not addressed, a lot of people will be thrown into absolute poverty,” Makamure said.

“Technological advancement has since seen our business slowly decline as we compete to match up with some of the promotions that they award to customers and this is one of the reasons why we are losing out,” he added.

The continuous development of technology has not only affected the newspaper and airtime vendors. Postmen have also lost jobs as most people now communicate via electronic mails (emails).

This has also negatively impacted into the operations of Zimpost which has been reduced into a Zesa and Harare City Council bill delivery service.

Vitalis Chirima, a young entrepreneur said the government should introduce some stringent laws to protect jobs and businesses of ordinary people whose jobs are being replaced by machines every day.

“We are not replacing those jobs with new ones and this is driving many people out of their jobs.

“With the pace at which technology is taking over the world, I feel there is an urgent need for the government to introduce laws that will protect the jobs of the unskilled men from collapse,” Chirima said.

Today, even in organisations, services of messenger are being rendered obsolete as their services are no longer required thanks to the continuous upgrade in technology.

While technology has been applauded as the brightest spot saving economies from too much expenditure, many people in the developing world have felt the negative impact as they have been rendered helpless.