Introduction
Malawi is a landlocked country of south-central Africa, mainly agriculture-dependent. About 80% of the population live in the rural area, and a huge percentage of the population is engaged in agriculture, agro-processing, and forestry. The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted the Malawian economy—especially, services and industry sectors.
Malawi labor force survey report shows that a huge percentage of the working-age population in the nation is looking for formal jobs in different industries like manufacturing industries, IT, teaching, entertainment, healthcare, etc. However, the employment scenario in the nation still shows scars of the pandemic as the second wave of the pandemic has a more profound impact on the country. Along with the financial crisis, the skill gap and inconsistent availability of working-class people are significant barriers to the development of the manufacturing sector.
Overview of Malawi
Population: 21,475,962 (2024)
GDP: 13.18 billion U.S. dollars (2024 est.)
Economic Overview
Due to the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Malawi's economy slowed down in 2020. According to the IMF's April report, GDP growth fell to 0.6% in 2020. Compared to other countries, Malawi's economy proved to be robust as the dominant role played by the agricultural sector. According to the IMF April 2021 forecast, the GDP growth picked up to 2.2% in 2021 and 6.5% in 2022 with the post-pandemic global economic recovery.
Market Size
There is an apparent shortage of formal job opportunities. Multiple policies and programs have been introduced to improve job opportunities through job creation in public sectors and entrepreneurship. However, professional training with training institutes plays a vital role in addressing the talent gap in manufacturing industries.
A brief glimpse of industries
- Tourism, retail, transport, education, health services, telecommunication, and the banking sector are the notable industries offering formal employment opportunities to the working-age population of Malawi.
- The Malawi government has launched new policies to restructure the public sector to boost the economy and create jobs through entrepreneurship development.
- Manufacturing employment has only 4.1% of total employment due to a lack of well-developed infrastructure and skilled labor to operate machinery.
- The government is also working towards fast-growing job creation in the formal sector. Policy reforms are initiated addressing the creation of decent employment opportunities.
- The government is working towards boosting the manufacturing sector and agribusinesses to improve the collective contribution in the GDP and create job options for skilled laborers.
- The significant industries where Malawi has started to invest more are food processing, transportation, and storage, construction, information technology and communication, mining, etc.
- The average Internet speed in Malawi is 13.47 Mbps. The average download speed in Malawi is 18.08 Mbps, and the upload speed is 17.65 Mbps.
Cost of living in Malawi
Malawi, 'the warm heart of Africa', is a nice place to live, and living costs are quite affordable compared to other western countries. Living cost is highly dependent on your lifestyle and your location in a city. A comfortable lifestyle costs around $ 1120 for a single person in Malawi, including house rent, food, and basic utilities. The following table shows a snapshot of the average monthly expense.
| Category |
Area of expense |
Estimated Monthly Cost (USD) |
| Rental |
Monthly rent for a three-bedroom apartment in City Center |
$ 755.10 |
| Rental |
Monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in City Center |
$ 363.31$ 363.31 |
| Food and beverage |
Meal (Inexpensive Restaurant)
Domestic Beer (0.5 Liter)
Milk (1 Liter) |
$ 3.70
$ 0.99
$ 0.94
|
| Transport costs |
Monthly ticket public transport |
$ 56.54 |
| Utilities |
Including water, cooling, heating, and garbage services
Internet (Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) |
$ 65.58
$ 157.64 |
| Personal care |
Membership at a fitness club |
$ 46.33 |
Salary structure for various roles in Malawi
The following table represents the average monthly salary of different sectors in Malawi
| Working Area |
Average salary depending on the role (MWK) |
| Accounting and Finance (Chartered Accountant) |
MWK 157,000 |
| Administration / Reception / Secretarial (Office Manager) |
MWK 146,000 |
| Advertising / Graphic Design / Events (Graphic Designer) |
MWK 107,000 |
| Airlines / Aviation / Aerospace / Defense (Aerospace Engineer) |
MWK 223,000 |
| Architecture (Architect) |
MWK 209,000 |
| Automotive (Mechanic) |
MWK 63,200 |
| Banking (Bank Branch Manager) |
MWK 289,000 |
| Bilingual (Teacher) |
MWK 129,000 |
| Business Planning (Business Analyst) |
MWK 218,000 |
| Construction / Building / Installation (Construction Project Manager) |
MWK 284,000 |
| Customer Service (Customer Service Manager) |
MWK 216,000 |
| Engineering (Electrical Engineer) |
MWK 156,000 |
| Food / Hospitality / Tourism / Catering (Hotel Manager) |
MWK 299,000 |
| Health and Medical (Nurse) |
MWK 135,000 |
| Human Resources (Human Resources Manager) |
MWK 257,000 |
| Information Technology (Developer / Programmer) |
MWK 156,000 |
| Sales Retail and Wholesale (Sales Representative) |
MWK 111,000 |
| Media / Broadcasting / Arts / Entertainment (Journalist) |
MWK 191,000 |
Cost of renting
House rent varies a lot depending on the location, type, and size of the accommodation, etc. The average cost of renting in Malawi is $ 300 – 400 per month for a 1-bedroom apartment. Living alone is more expensive than shared accommodations. Lilongwe and Blantyre are the two main cities of Malawi where house rent is comparatively high.
| Name of the Cities |
Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) |
Cost of Living without rent /person |
Rent |
| Lilongwe |
$ 936 |
$ 650 |
$ 315 – 460 |
| Blantyre |
$ 750 |
$ 590 |
$ 350 – 435 |
| Zomba |
$ 641 |
$ 362 |
$ 350 – 420 |
| Mzuzu |
$ 646 |
$ 374 |
$ 340 – 435 |
| Mangochi |
$ 651 |
$ 405 |
$ 370 – 430 |
| Mzimba |
$ 646 |
$ 406 |
$ 380 – 410 |
| Ntcheu |
$ 635 |
$ 405 |
$ 370 - 440 |
The top sectors that are expected to hire in Malawi in 2024
| S.No |
Industries |
Employment by sector (in % of Total Employment) |
Value Added (in % of GDP) |
Value Added (Annual % Change) |
| 1 |
Agriculture |
43.2 |
25.5 |
4.3 |
| 2 |
Industry (food and beverages processing, textile, electronic parts, consumer goods manufacturing, etc. ) |
13.8 |
12.9 |
3.8 |
| 3 |
Services (tourism, banking, and finance, broadcast and entertainment, computer hardware, etc.) |
43.0 |
54.4 |
4.5 |
Top Skills in Malawi
The job market in Malawi is dynamic. Big cities have plenty of formal and informal job opportunities for enterprising and ambitious freshers. Different cities have different types of skill-based employment options depending on the dominant industries in that city.
Major industries hiring the most in Malawi include:
- Consumer goods
- Banking and finance
- Sales
- Tourism
- Food Processing
- Information technology & communication
- Transport
Top Skills City-wise Occupation-wise
In Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, the job market is dominated by the government and public institutions. However, there are multiple industries offering options to freshers as well as experienced professionals. Major industries providing job options are:
- Food processing
- Tobacco manufacturing and storage
- Finance and banking
- Sales
- Retail trade
- Construction
- Transport
- Tourism
Blantyre is the industrial and commercial capital of Malawi. The city offers plenty of formal employment opportunities in primary, secondary, and tertiary industry sub-sectors. Major industries providing job options are banks, investment services, consumer services, telecommunication, delivery services, broadcasting & entertainment, and utilities.
The commercial hub Mzuzu offers various job options in different food processing industries, including coffee, timber, fruit, milk, and honey production. The city also provides employment options to manufacturing factories, including medication, cosmetics, and timber. As the city has a highly skilled labor force, manufacturing industries can have an efficient workforce. Several small to medium-sized businesses are located here that provide job opportunities in telecommunication services, internet cafes, and multipurpose stores.
Zomba offers job opportunities in different agribusinesses, timber processing, food processing factories, textile, and tourism-related industries.
Hiring Cost
Hiring cost is an essential factor to consider while employing people. To calculate cost-per-hire in a city, you have to consider various factors, including the cost of living in the city and the overall expenditure in a city. When you go to hire someone in a particular city, several things affect the cost of hiring, such as:
- Advertisement cost
- The cost of hiring processes (taking interviews, conducting screening process, etc.)
- Onboarding costs
- Training cost
- Opportunity costs
Employment Laws in Malawi
- The labor code of Malawi is established on several acts and legislation, including:
- The Labor Relations Act, 1996
- Occupational Safety, Health, and Welfare Act, 1997
- The Employment Act
- Workers Compensation Act
- Apart from the laws mentioned above, other employment law sources include some other norms —regulations and administrative instructions.
- Malawi's employment act covers the fundamental principles of a good employer-employee relationship, including:
- Prohibition against forced labor
- Anti-discrimination
- Equal pay
- Remedies for infringement of fundamental rights
- Prohibition against child labor
- The regulations that apply are very simple, however, the authorities have substantial power.
- The Local legislation (state-wise) has a significant impact on the existing employment relationships.
- In Malawi, a written work contract is mandatory for a formal job, and that must contain the following information:
- Details of the employer and employee
- The date of commencement of work
- Details about the probationary period
- Job title and the type of work
- Job location
- The type of contract (part-time / full-time)
- Working hours and weekly leave
- The amount of basic salary
- The terms of payment
- Annual leave
- Duration of the notice period
- A reference to collective agreements
How Can Skuad Help You in Hiring in Malawi?
Hiring a professional in Malawi needs to ensure complete compliance, satisfy employment laws, salary, negotiation depending on the cost of living, etc. Having in-depth knowledge about the employment laws, trends, hiring costs, living costs city-wise, etc., is not only time taking but also tedious and costly. Skuad can be your one-stop solution for handling every aspect of your recruitment process. This will help you to concentrate on your project and expansion plans without bothering about hiring stresses.
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