Some companies will still close for the annual shut down to cut on costs despite having lost the greater part of their productive time in the year, the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) has said.
Corporates were forced to suspend operations while those in the essential services had their hours of operation cut short when Zimbabwe was forced into a lock-down on March 30 as part of measures by the government to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
However, ZNCC vice president, Golden Muoni, said notwithstanding the time lost some companies will still not do away with the annual shutdown which coincides with the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“It’s not about that we lost much time but sometimes you are just increasing unnecessary costs where the demand is no longer there,” Muoni told CITE.
“People have gone.”
Muoni said the essence of remaining open was to attract customers to buy goods and services, adding some sectors risked making losses by operating during the holiday when the market is subdued.
“The companies are closing but it depends on the industry,” he said.
“For the beverages and supermarkets for example, obviously that is the period when they are pushing. The beverages companies might not close as in shutting down completely. They might have a skeletal staff but in some industries you might find that they might not need to keep open.”
He added: “But companies like those making bricks and so forth close.”
