A new study revealing labor market trends in Kenya revealed that one in four companies laid off permanent employees this year, and only one in 10 companies added new permanent jobs.
Meanwhile, while only 13% of companies have hired new casual workers this year, nearly half of companies (42%) have fired casual workers amid tough economic times, according to a survey by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
In its first assessment of the hiring and firing of different categories of employees by companies since January, the Central Bank of Kuwait indicated in its market perception survey in September that the number of companies that laid off workers this year is more than double those that hired them.
The survey shows that while more companies laid off workers, the banking sector saw growth as lenders opened new branches in an expansion drive.
“Participants were asked how the number of permanent, contract and casual employees at their companies compared with the number of employees in a similar period in 2023.
Responses showed that 59% of banks hired new permanent employees in 2024 compared to only 10% of non-banks. Meanwhile, 25% of non-banking companies have so far laid off permanent staff in 2024 compared to just 4% of banks.
The Central Bank of Kuwait indicates that 39 percent of banks hired new contract workers this year, and the same number retained the contract employees they had last year.
About 23% of banks said they fired contract workers this year.
On the other hand, 31% of companies in the general economy removed contract workers from their payrolls this year, while 17% of companies added new contract jobs compared to last year, the Central Bank of Kuwait survey indicates.
“Banks largely maintained their casual staff numbers in 2023, while non-banks significantly reduced their casual staff numbers. The survey results therefore show that non-banks hired less and laid off more in 2024 than banks.
It shows that 83% of banks retained the temporary employees they had last year, and 13% of them hired new workers. Four percent of banks have made casual staff redundant.
This is in stark contrast to the general economy, where 42% of companies have fired casual workers, with only 13% hiring new ones. Less than half (45%) of companies maintained their number of casual workers in 2023.
Overall, the survey indicated that 76% of banks and 38% of companies in other sectors of the economy expect to hire more employees in 2024 than they had in 2023.
“Banks largely expect to hire more in 2024 to support continued branch expansion and business growth, launch new products, and replace existing employees,” the survey stated.
“Non-banking institutions expected higher cost of production, higher overheads, lower profit margins, lower business, lower income, higher cost of operations, business uncertainty, need to cut costs with lower market demand to influence new appointments in 2017,” she added. 2024″.
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