Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has revealed that half of Kenya’s jobless population is not looking for jobs even as hard economic times persist.
According to recent data, 1.23 million out of the total of 2.49 million jobless Kenyans aged between 15 and 64 are not actively looking for jobs, despite being qualified.
Those not looking for jobs aged between 20 and 24 are 363,018, while those aged between 25 to 29 are 232,146.
“It is a reflection of the reality in the economy right now, depending on the sectors. So long as businesses are not back to full recovery and people are facing uncertainties and more people are out of work, job seekers realise their chances of getting an opening are very slim,” said Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) executive director Jacqueline Mugo.
Read: Internet Economy to Contribute Sh786 Billion to Kenya’s GDP in 2020
In the last quarter of 2020, the number of those who were unemployed stood at 1.04 million, while those not actively seeking work stood at 1.52 million.
730,000 jobs were lost in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused the economy to contract by 0.3 percent.
“Unless it is the emerging sectors like information technology, most companies are not hiring and are even struggling to keep their current workforce. So potential workers are just biding their time surviving day to day until they see an element of recovery,” said Ms Mugo.
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