SKILLS mismatch continues to fuel unemployment in Kenya despite a well-educated young population, experts in career development, recruitment and human resource now say.
This, even as the economy continues to create lesser jobs than the market demand amid a digital talent surge that is shaping the country’s workspace.
According to a report by career development and recruitment solutions company–BrighterMonday Kenya, the country’s universities, colleges and other training institutions are churning out up to two million individuals into the job market against an average 800,000 jobs created, mainly in the private sector with low opportunities within government.
Majority if them however lack the right skills being sought by employers, the firm says, leading to low absorption with just 10 per cent of the workforce in formal employment.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics puts the number Kenyans without jobs grew at 2.97 million (3% increase) post elections amid reduced hiring and repressed earnings.
More than half of the unemployed are between the age of 20-29 years old with about 800,000 new job seekers annually.
“One of the key things that really stands out is that there is a clear gap between what we are preparing the youth for versus what the market is demanding. And so, there needs to be very intentional conversations and thoughts around what we need to do to bridge that gap,” BrighterMonday acting managing director Sarah Ndegwa said yesterday.
She spoke during the launch of the “Talent Landscape Report and HR Smart Lab Roundtable” in Nairobi.
Kenya's population is projected to reach 63.9 million, with 22.3 million aged 15-34, intensifying the youth unemployment challenge.
Doris Chelagat, talent strategist and founder of Qazi Works noted that the country’s education system must be able to build the right skill that meet the market demand.
“Employers have so many open jobs, so many unemployed youth and there is no link. We are not marrying and it is because the gaps are just consistently, the pace is so fast that it is almost impossible for the education system to adjust that quickly,” she said.
GradaWorld Security-Africa HR director Victor Komu noted that technology must also be infused into modern education and training modules to ensure youths are employable in the wake of a major digital shift.
The world of work is undergoing a seismic shift driven by the growth of the digital economy, automation and artificial intelligence (AI), and Kenya is at the heart of this transformation.
“We are talking about technology-based skills. The pace at which technology is taking over a lot of the roles that we traditionally know of is so fast that the education system, whether that is university or whatever we are churning out through colleges, et cetera, et cetera, is not preparing future ready employees. That is why the gap between recruitment and performance is widening. We must address this,” he said.
Meanwhile, BrighterMonday report notyes that remote work opportunities are on a decline amid rising job demand and a shift to office amid flat market supply.
Sales, accounting, office admin and procurement among top skills in demand.
Top industries hiring in Kenya showing multi-sector growth, driving employment and influencing Kenya’s 4.5 per cent GDP expected growth rate include staffing firms, NGOs, Non-Profit Organisations and charity, banking, finance and insurance, education, healthcare, technology, IT & telecoms and energy and utilities.
Meanwhile, Kenyans can also tap job opportunities abroad according to experts, mainly in Europe where their population is ageing against low number of youths to meet the job market demand.
"Europe has an aging population resulting in long term unmet talent needs. Increasing labour costs and presenting opportunity for cost arbitrage through offshoring and remote work," the report notes.
BrighterMonday’s proprietary data from over 1.3 million candidate profiles and 70,000+ employers in Kenya reveals a growing mismatch between the skills job seekers possess and what employers are looking for.
An analysis of the most applied-to roles on BrighterMonday showed that 65 per cent of hard skills listed can be automated or augmented by AI, while 20 per cent of soft skills are also vulnerable to automation.
This highlights the pressing need for human-centric, AI-complementary skills such as emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and strategic thinking.
