International Journal of Commerce and Management Research

Authors
Mapira Nyasha

Abstract
The research sought to investigate the effectivess of hiring freeze on reducing costs at Masvingo provincial hospital, a referral hospital in Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe. A case study research design was used in this study. Questionnaires and interviews were used as methods for data collection at Masvingo Hospital. A sample size of 46 nursing staff out of 119 nursing staff was used. In addition, the researcher used stratified random sampling technique to draw information from respondents. Both primary and secondary methods of data collection were used. Data was analysed using thermatic data analysis. After analyzing the collected data, it was found that hiring freeze increases absenteeism and high labour turnover which in turn increases recruitment costs. It was also found that freeze often results in increased stress, decreased morale and lack of work life balance for survivors because of increased responsibilities and obligations.The researcher recommended that organizations must consider alternatives to hiring freeze say manpower planning, redeployment, loaning out and pay cuts.