Harare - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability and cost of household help, and what types of help are typically employed by expatriates?
Finding help is easy. Finding competent help is another story. I have found that staff tend not to be resourceful or teachable, and it is very frustrating. Zimbabweans pay about $90/month for gardeners and maybe $120/month for housekeepers/cooks/nannies. It seems that US Mission staff pay on average 4-5 times that amount. - Jan 2024
Most families employed a housekeeper and gardener. Embassy reimbursed a percentage of the gardener cost. Salaries ranged from US$200-$400 per month. - May 2021
Expatriates are still typically paying the same USD salaries they did a year ago: around US $200-300. Over the course of the past year, Zimbabwe introduced its own currency which crashed, along with local incomes. I have seen a poll suggesting locals are paying their domestic staff about a tenth of what expatriates pay. So there is some debate on whether folks should pay the going rate, or keep paying the same USD salaries (which means domestic staff get paid much much more than say... teachers). Locals are really suffering in the current economic situation; who knows where things will stand a year from now. - Feb 2020
$250-300 a month for a full time nanny/housekeeper. Most people also have a full time gardener, some people have drivers. Household help is very formal and standoffish, which I think is an adjustment to many Americans. - Feb 2019
Household help is abundant. There are nannies, maids, gardeners, and drivers. We pay $125 for a maid 3 days a week. We have a gardener once a week and the daily wage is $10 per day. We haven't had much luck with gardeners. Please do interview your domestic staff rather than just taking the staff that the last expat in your position or home used. - Apr 2018
Good availability, high quality and inexpensive. I paid $250 per month for a full time maid and $200 for a full time gardener. Both lived in a house behind the main house. - Sep 2017
Readily available, often well educated. Salary ranges from 200-250 USD and bonuses are expected (Xmas for example) as well payment of school fees. - Jul 2017
We paid our live-in maid $250/month and our live-in gardener $200/month. - Jul 2017
Widely available, costs are reasonable (from US$300 a month), there are agencies for full time and part time staff - Apr 2016
US$200 a month, live-in. - Dec 2013
Maids are available from US$100-$200/month depending on skill. Gardeners are similar. - Jul 2013
Widely available and cheap. Full-time housekeepers and gardeners run about $100/mo. You need someone at your house full-time to do all the yard work (most properties are on about an acre!) and to deter daytime break-ins. - Jun 2009
Cheap, but quality varies. - Dec 2008
Very available and very cheap. We have a fabulous nanny for US$150 a month, a great gardener for US$75 a month. Housecleaners are available for US$75 a month and up. Drivers for US$5 a day etc..... - Sep 2008
