President William Ruto has said the country is looking into changing labour laws that will appreciate remote jobs.
Speaking during the official opening of the Youth Connekt Africa summit held in Nairobi, the head of state said what matters is the youth are working and know what they are doing and doing well while at it.
"Shorty, we will be changing the law in Kenya so that it begins to appreciate that there are remote jobs that do not require you to be in an office. It won't matter that you'll be in an office, whether your hair is combed or you are in a suit," he said.
Ruto added that people should be open-minded about jobs and embrace the fact that work can be done remotely and not just at the office.
"Some people do not believe that someone can be in a t-shirt at home and working. They believe that someone has to be in the office, with a boss sitting somewhere," he said.
The President mentioned a court case that allegedly directed that a Kenyan working remotely should obtain a letter of appointment.
"We have a very interesting case in court, where the court ruled that if you are working in Nairobi for a company in the United States of America, you must get a letter of appointment. That is ridiculous. Are you interested in a letter of appointment or are you interested in working and obtaining a salary?" he asked.
A study conducted by the National Study on Digital and Digitally Enabled Work in 2021 showed that at least 1.2 million Kenyans are working online, earning an average of Sh20,773 per month.
The survey released by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) showed that 63 per cent of adult Kenyans are aware of the gig economy.
The survey commissioned by the Ministry of Information Communication Technology reveals that the majority of online workers at 461,523 are digital marketers followed by website articles and academic writers at 266,402 and 168,022 respectively.
