KRA plans pay rise amid war for talent

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is seeking to review the pay of its workers to boost its attractiveness in the job market amid cut-throat competition for top talent.

This comes at a time KRA—which has about 8,700 employees—seeks to recruit thousands of new staff within the next two years to boost revenue collection.

In its recruitment drive, the taxman sought to recruit 2,196 new staff in the fiscal year to June 2022 but managed about 750.

It also plans to hire 2,203 new staff in fiscal 2022/23 and another 2,205 in the fiscal year starting July next year.

KRA says it will review salary structure and develop a compensation package that will enable it to attract and retain top talent for high-demand jobs.

The tax agency also wants to benchmark its pay against similar entities that it competes with for talent in a bid to stay ahead of the competition.

“As part of its strategy to attract, retain and motivate competent staff for enhanced productivity and quality service delivery, and in view of the dynamic job market, the Authority would like to review its compensation package with a view to determine competitive remuneration to its staff,”  KRA said. 

To boost performance, it seeks to align its compensation structure with the market forces and be up to date with labour demands.

It also says the new pay structure will provide salaries in keeping with the assigned duties.

KRA’s move comes at a time when competition for talent is heating up across many sectors of the economy.

For instance, global tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft have upended smaller tech firms that are losing talent to the companies.

President William Ruto has placed the KRA at the centre of his plans to collect higher revenues to expand the tax base.