The civil servants in Zimbabwe have been on a back and forth with the government over salaries.Some have now given up the fight and made the decision to move to greener pastures. Now, the government is finally realising the importance of these personnel especially in the health sector.
The issue of salaries has been handled differently in different careers. Those in the military have reportedly been sent for retraining as their behaviour is unbecoming of military professionals. They are said to also have been denied the chance to leave the army until 2023. However, firefighters, teachers and nurses have been leaving in their numbers for countries such as Rwanda and the UK. Given the covid situation, the nation cannot afford to lose more people in the health sector so the government had to make some adjustments.
Incentives For Nurses To Stay
Following yesterday’s Cabinet briefing, government officials carefully analysed the brain drain in the health sector and decided to hit the problem at its root. Given the various protests for increased salaries that have taken place, cabinet agreed to give nurses non-monetary incentives to persuade them to stay on the job. Great!
These non-monetary incentives include accommodation, free WiFi, transport and free meals, things that other countries might now be surprised that these workers weren’t afforded these basics to begin with. Information minister, Monica Mutsvangwa further stated the following:
“Government has also introduced measures to improve the remuneration of tutors in nurses training colleges judicious adjustment of monetary benefits; and addressing the disparity between the urban and rural health personnel incentives in order to attract personnel to rural areas
However, the government has ascertained that those nurses that left for greener pastures are not forgotten. The government is said to be pursuing bilateral agreements with the countries our nurses are moving to within the World Health Organisation framework.
I guess the question now is, are these incentives sufficient to keep health workers from leaving?