• Chelugui noted that the unemployment rate doubled to 10.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2020.
• This compared to 5.2 per cent in the first quarter before reducing to 7.2 per cent in the third quarter.
President Uhuru Kenyatta's latest Covid-19 directives will result in more job losses in key sectors.
“The current containment measures put in place by the government to contain the spread of the pandemic are likely to result in loss of jobs in some key sectors of the economy that had started to recover,” Labour and Social Protection CS Simon Chelugui said on Friday.
He spoke during a Zoom conference with Labour and Protection Parliamentary Committee members.
The sectors the CS said are likely to be affected include transport, aviation — particularly domestic passenger flights —, hospitality and tourism, and the informal sector.
“The country is also witnessing work-related fatalities and casualties with the Ministry of Health reporting a spike in the number of new Covid-19 cases and fatalities,” the CS said.
Chelugui noted that the unemployment rate doubled to 10.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2020.
This compared to 5.2 per cent in the first quarter before reducing to 7.2 per cent in the third quarter.
He said Chelugui said reduction was attributed to the partial opening up of the economy between October and December.
The pandemic has also affected labour migration management across the globe because of restrictions on travel.
Chelugui observed that with the outbreak of the pandemic, Kenyan migrant workers have faced numerous challenges that have affected their livelihoods.
“A total of 748 distress cases from Kenyan migrant workers have been reported from 34 destination countries, with 4,105 migrant workers repatriated back,” the CS revealed.
The distress situation includes non-payment of salaries, loss of jobs, health and restricted movement, he said.
COUNTIES UNDER LOCKDOWN
Chelugui said the containment measures in the five zoned counties are likely to negatively affect the livelihoods of many Kenyans due to a sharp decrease in incomes and employment.
“The effect will not only be felt in the five counties affected by the lockdown but also the other counties given the centrality of the affected region,” he told the committee.
The service industry, especially transport, hotel and accommodation, arts, entertainment and recreation, will be most affected as people are likely to lose their livelihoods.
He said the International Labour Organisation has been making projections on the number of working hours lost due to the pandemic.
“In its current modelled estimate, for Kenya, the projected number of working hours lost is 9.5 per cent per day,” the CS said.
Chelugui said from the 2020 Economic Survey, the total number of people who were working was 18,142,700, out of whom 4,574,658 are within the five counties under lockdown. This represents 25 per cent of the total working population in the country.
He said there are 2,063,100 employees in the private sector, out of whom 515,775 were in the locked down counties.
Among these, 20,000 are in accommodation, hotel and food services, 18,475 in transport and storage and 1,275 in the arts, entertainment and recreation businesses.
A report received by the ministry from the Associations of Bouncers of Kenya showed 1,486 bouncers from the five counties have lost livelihoods since the latest containment measures were put in place.
The transport sector, which employs approximately 92,500 workers, has been severely affected by the increased curfew hours and the lockdown in the disease infected zone.
The total ban on domestic flits, the CS said, had severely impacted on the aviation industry.
Approximately 80 per cent of registered aircraft in the country have been grounded due to the travel restrictions.
Chelugui was responding to questions from the members of the committee led by Peter Mwathi and members Ronald Tanui (Bomet Central), Malulu Injendi (Malava), David Sankok (nominated), Wilson Sossion (nominated) and Tom Odege (Nyatike).
Others are Caleb Amisi (Saboti), Gideon Kimutai (Chepalungu), and Gideon Terer (nominated).
Chelugui said the most affected air operators are those catering for tourism and business travel. As a result, employees in this industry are likely to lose jobs.
The pandemic has also adversely affected the informal sector operators, where 59.1 per cent of the total employment is in retail trade, hotels and restaurants, the CS further noted.
According to the 2020 Economic Survey, the informal sector employs 15,051,600 workers out of which 3,762,900 employees are within the five counties.
Since the lockdown in the five counties was announced, employers are yet to effect redundancies.
"This information can only be available one month after the commencement of the latest lockdown," Chelugui told the committee.
He said the county labour officers in Nairobi, Machakos, Kajiado, Kiambu and Nakuru have been instructed to provide data on job losses in their counties as and when they obtain these statistics for necessary action.
Under the Employment Act, 2007, Section 40, an employer is required to give one month notice of intention to declare employees redundant and copy the same to the nearest labour office as well as the relevant trade union in the sector.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Chelugui said, the ministry has continued receiving redundancy notices from formal sector employers, while associations and welfare groups have been reporting job losses.
As of March 2021, the Labour Minister said, the total reported redundancies were 17,743 from 871 organisations, representing about 5.5 per cent of total wage employment in the formal sector.
This excluded employees on unpaid leave and those on pay-cut, while 26,359 operators in the informal sector were reported to have lost their incomes.
The minister said a total of Sh9,684,320 in terminal dues has been settled arising from disputes between employers and workers as of March 31, 2021.
Chelugui said his ministry has developed a Cabinet memorandum on measures to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on jobs, the welfare of workers and the interests of employers.
Among the directives in the memo include establishment of a contributory unemployment insurance fund to cushion workers, developing a migrant workers welfare fund, appointment of honorary consuls and attaches in key labour destination countries for necessary consular assistance and protection of labour rights.
Edited by EKibii