LEADING clothing supplier, Paramount Garment Works, last week celebrated its 75th anniversary amid revelations that it has registered growth in the post-COVID-19 era.
In an interview with NewsDay, Paramount general manager (production), Sumit Sharma, said the company recorded a 20% growth this year.
The company has also installed a new solar system as back up in case of power outages while excess electricity is fed back into the national grid.
“This is the biggest job creation industry as compared to other industries. The more we grow in the next year, the more job creation will be there,” he said.
Sharma, however, bemoaned the current foreign exchange shortages which he said were affecting raw material imports.
“We have challenges as we do not buy our fabrics locally but we import them. Some of them we buy locally when available.
“However, in the last two years, we have produced almost 800 more jobs after the pandemic. We are also expecting to open another four to five assembly lines that will create an estimated 300 new jobs,” Sharma said.
The company recently opened a new factory in Bulawayo called Archer.
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The garment manufacturing company has 60 assembly lines with 30 lines currently working, making it the biggest manpower-oriented industry with a vast potential for job creation so far.
The company supplies regional and international markets — South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Germany, among others.
“This company started in 1948, so our major customers are from Germany, South Africa, and other regional customers like Mozambique and Zambia,” he said.
The firm is currently operating at 50% of its capacity with 2 000 workers.
The company is aiming to produce 2,5 million garments in 2024 an increase from two million this year.
Sharma revealed that employees were being paid 75% of their salaries in hard currency.
“We plan to pay the full salaries in US dollars starting January next year and that is also helping a lot because we used to pay them in local currency,” he said.
The company honoured some of its longest serving employees with one, Mike Gondo, having been with the company for 61 years.
Paramount group finance director Jeremy Youmans reiterated the company’s commitment to honouring its employees.
