Four in every 10 Kenyan workers underqualified, says World Bank

Four in every 10 Kenyan workers are underqualified for their jobs, research by the World Bank shows, underlining the effects of discrimination and corruption in the job market.

The research found that only 30 per cent of workers had skills matching their jobs, with another 30 per cent said to be overqualified for their roles.

“There is significant occupational mismatch in Kenya with a high share of workers considering themselves either under- or over-qualified for their jobs,” says the report.

Most jobseekers usually rely on “who they know” and not educational qualifications to secure jobs owing to the high levels of competition for few vacancies.

More women were found to be overqualified for their roles compared with men. A higher number of women were also found to be underqualified, indicating greater prejudice at the workplace.

GENDER GAPS

The research found there were no gender gaps in pay in the formal market. Men earned more than women as informal wage workers.

Nepotism and tribalism have also been key factors in the Kenyan job market, especially in the public sector, leading to the mismatch as merit takes a back seat.

Bribery is also common in the public sector, which is preferred by graduates owing to job security, less pressure and higher perks. With over two million jobseekers in an economy that is creating an estimated 800,000 jobs annually, most people are willing to bribe to get on a payroll.

Family members in high ranks are viewed to have a social obligation to secure jobs for their kin. Corruption, nepotism and tribalism make it difficult for senior managers to take disciplinary measures in cases where there is underperformance arising from a skills mismatch.

The World Bank found individuals from less wealthy households were confined to lower-earning jobs compared with richer families.

WEALTH EDGE

“They are disproportionately engaged in self-employment and informal wage work, and in agriculture and low value-added sectors,” says the World Bank.

Rich families regularly call for favours from their peers to help their kin secure jobs or contracts that propel their enterprises. Higher education is expensive, meaning those from wealthy families get an edge.

“These inequities appear to have increased over time, suggesting that the expansion in education at secondary and tertiary level has left poorer households behind,” says the bank.

The introduction of the parallel degree system at universities has seen children from rich families enter the job market earlier as they take shorter periods to graduate.

Skill development is seen as time-consuming, which explains why most companies opt to poach from rivals instead of grooming their own.