The government to scrutinize foreign workers in private sectors

DESPITE of the existing of various departments dealing with the employment related matters to foreigners in the country such as the immigration department and the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), the government does not have a comprehensive report of foreigners working in various professional fields in the country. It has been learnt. In view of this, after having realized of such a discrepancy, the government has set up a format which will enable to know the status of foreign employees working in private sectors in the country, the Minister for Labour and Employment Hon. Gaudensia Kabaka has said. The move aims to help the government know the distribution of employees so as to help capture the statistics of both foreign and local employees who are employed at least on monthly basis just in the same way as it records the number of employees in public sector. Minister Kabaka gave the concern yesterday in Dar es Salaam when addressing members of the Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE) who gathered for a one day high level conference which was later on followed by their 53rd Annual General Meeting (AGM). She said that, her ministry has prepared a survey form which will be sent to all employers of the private sectors to fill-in each month indicating the type of occupation their workers are doing, gender and their citizenship, minimum wage, sex and also the ministry would know their future projections on the same grounds. According to the Minister, the system among other things will put private sector employers who are the main covering 97 percent of the employment opportunities and the government which covers the remaining 3 percent in close relationship and cooperation in the job creation ventures in the country. However, she added that, the system would be coordinated and make it more effectively through regional offices in the country and will include all types of workers, and the motive behind is to ensure that more Tanzanians are considered for employment as per the government set up. The Minister who is optimistic with the performances of various private sectors, has also ordered members of the ATE to give her the feedback starting from next week so that she could inform the public on the development of these statistics. Earlier in her introductory remark, Minister Kabaka said that, with the East Africa Community already up and running, Tanzanian youths and workforce in general are exposed to a high risk of loosing jobs and other business opportunities due to attitude problems which can be out competed by the neighboring regions. “It has come the right time as many youths are facing numerous challenges to find out solutions to their day-to day’s problems facing their life”. She said adding that, the problem is not only in Tanzania but also in Africa and suggested that, with these problems African governments should take appropriate steps to solve them. However, she admitted that the situation is mainly caused due to low wages which cannot match with the present high living standards. In view of this, the Minister has urged employers not to show bad attitude towards their workers and instead they should be working in collaboration with their workers in order to ward off the root cause of the problem at all levels. Commenting on the event which was tailored by the theme titled, “Work attitude towards business development in Tanzania”, she stressed a point that, it was important that Tanzanian workers should build the right attitude now in order to avoid future challenges that might lead to a more frustrating life. However, she added that, lack of right attitude also has contributed to poor living standard which depends on a number of things. In vice versa, she noted that in employing the right attitude is the recipe to outstanding organizational performance which will therefore lead to economic prosperity. Responding the Minister’s call, ATE’s Chairman Adv. Carnelius Kariwa assured the government that his members will work in collaboration as per the laid down regulations in order to succeed. When asked how ATE would ensure the employment security to the local, he noted that, they would work in close cooperation with the relevant bodies such as Tanzania Investment Centre to accomplish the need. He earlier noted that, ATE had gathered with a view to brainstorm the consistent problems which have been facing local Tanzanians in various levels of professional fields and what needs to be done in order to build the right attitudes of employers to their workers in both private and public sector. Speaking during the conference, the main speaker of the event Dr. Fred Mwita, Chief Officer, Human Resources for Vodacom Tanzania urged employers to empower right attitude towards work in order to promote productivity and competitiveness in the country. He said most of employers complain of retarded job performance but the poor cause of all these is work attitude. However, he said adding that, cases of fraud, corruption, job turnover and gossips cause poor performance at work at work and employers spend most of time dealing with hearings and terminations instead of augmenting production. The ATE is the most representative employer’s organization in the country with more than 1,000 members’ organization countrywide. 70 percent of these are based in Dar es Salaam region, while 30 percent are in upcountry regions. One of the duties of the association is to promote harmonious labor relations at work places as well as best practices in HR management for smooth running of businesses.

The Minister for Labour and Employment Hon. Gaudensia Kabaka