Main Article Content
Globalisation and Job Insecurity in Tanzania’s Manufacturing Sector
Abstract
This paper examines the effects of globalization on job security using a number of indicators from the Regional Programme on Enterprise Development (RPED) and Tanzania Manufacturing Enterprise Survey (TMES) datasets. The paper finds that job
insecurity is prevalent among workers in Tanzania’s manufacturing sector over the study period. The increase in job insecurity is related to increasing privatization of parastatals which resulted in job losses, as well as the influx of foreign direct investment that bought off most companies. The study shows that between 1992 and 1998, there was a reduction in the unionisation of the workforce during a time when the tempo of structural adjustment reforms in the economy was high. Over the same period, the study finds that firms were increasingly using more casual workers, owing to firms engaging in cost-saving measures. The number of layoffs of workers was also quite high at the beginning of the period, indicating significant adjustments in job destruction as new owners bought some privatised firms. There were also a number of resignations as well as workers absconding from their jobs.
insecurity is prevalent among workers in Tanzania’s manufacturing sector over the study period. The increase in job insecurity is related to increasing privatization of parastatals which resulted in job losses, as well as the influx of foreign direct investment that bought off most companies. The study shows that between 1992 and 1998, there was a reduction in the unionisation of the workforce during a time when the tempo of structural adjustment reforms in the economy was high. Over the same period, the study finds that firms were increasingly using more casual workers, owing to firms engaging in cost-saving measures. The number of layoffs of workers was also quite high at the beginning of the period, indicating significant adjustments in job destruction as new owners bought some privatised firms. There were also a number of resignations as well as workers absconding from their jobs.
