Job seekers, especially fresh university and college graduates have slimmer chances of getting employed in the next three years, with majority of employers indicating that they will retain their current work force.
The Skills Mismatch Survey released last week by the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) shows a whopping 76 per cent of employers plan to retain their current employees, stating that fresh recruits are taking unusually longer time to adjust.
"Most firms are working on staff retention programmes to improve productivity, cut staff training costs and time. Universities are churning out half-baked graduates with only 12 per cent of entry level employees well prepared to take on assignments," the study shows.
Graduates' job preparedness score that sampled 292 employers revealed 66 per cent of entry level workers are not prepared while 22 per cent are less prepared. Only 12 per cent are well prepared for the job.
Generally, employers gave a negative 54 job preparedness score to fresh graduates, citing lack of basic soft skills needed in job market.
On average, 68 per cent of entry level recruits take up to three months to settle and perform on their job. This is attributed to the time taken in training and induction of the recruit.
Besides, firms are spending a lot of money to retrain graduates to fit in their day to day operations. According to the study, employers in Kenya spend between Sh20, 000 to Sh100,000 to retrain a fresh graduate.
The employers’ body now wants tertiary institutions to Impart sufficient skills and competency to the students so that organizations doesn’t have to spend much money on training on those competence.
It also asking universities to review curriculum to meet labour needs-putting more practical oriented units, ensuring all the students who graduate are exposed to more contact hours in terms or practical training
FKE is also appealing to fresh graduates to learn soft and interpersonal skills and research and consult widely before taking course if they are hoping for a space in the job market.
Even so, more firms are planning to maintain size of work force, with very few planning to reduce.
The survey shows 46 per cent of employers will maintain their current staff size in next three year while 38 per cent will be increasing the size. Only 16 per cent of employers are planning to retrench to cut on operation costs in that period.