Kampala– More than 1 million workers in Uganda lost their jobs at the height of COVID-19 as companies tried to cope with disruptions caused by the pandemic.
This is according to preliminary findings from a study commissioned by government to understand the impact of COVID-19 on Labour, Employment and Productivity in the country.
For the last two years, the country has implemented COVID-19 containment measures. The measures had adverse effects on the economy halting production in some sectors, leading to workplace closures, job and productivity loss.
The study reveals that nearly 57 percent of the firms (employing 2,945,372 workers) decreased employment to cope with supply-chain disruptions and sales contraction and only five percent registered an increase in employment. This sunk million people into unemployment due to the temporary or permanent lay-offs by some firms.
Furthermore, the study also indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated youth unemployment with about one in every four youths (24 percent) between 18 and 30 years having lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
In addition, there was a 35% reduction in sales per worker and productivity of informal firms reduced by 59.9%. More than half of firms in the Agriculture and Services sectors adjusted salaries downwards by as much as 37 percent and 35 percent, respectively.
With the introduction of the Parish Development Model, government expects to respond to these challenges and also increase access to productive employment, especially for the 39% households that are in subsistence agriculture, mostly the youth and women living in rural areas.
According to the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development Betty Amongi Ongom, the program is expected to increase production, aggregate demand, create jobs and increase incomes within the major sectors where majority of the labour force is employed, and also induce jobs in other sectors.
On 26th March 2022, the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni launched the Parish Development Model (PDM) in Kibuku District. The program is aimed at moving households from subsistence agriculture to modern agriculture.
Uganda will on 1st May join Workers around the world to commemorate the International Labour Day.
The day will be observed under the theme “Mitigating the impact of COVID-19: Enhancing Productive Employment for improved livelihoods through Parish Development Model”.
“The choice of this theme is strategic in heightening national consciousness on the relevance of the Parish Development Model as a mechanism for enhancing productive employment.” Says minister Among
