Talent squeeze: When a young workforce meets an old system

On a different day, a fresh university graduate is seen browsing job boards through a borrowed phone with his eyes shut in Kabartonjo.

A Nakuru-based IT company has purchased several new software systems to automate its delivery schedule. Still, its proprietor is unable to find an employee who can operate the technology.

The Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) subterranean offices are shining with the vision, but most offices privately say they are struggling to retain their best young employees.

The labour pool in Kenya is growing, and skills shortages are on the rise. This is the paradox of unskilled workers and jobs without the right people, the unspoken history of our future economic status.

This week’s signal: The talent squeeze—what happens when Gen Z becomes a third of the workforce?

In Kenya, there have been some generational change, with Generation Z (people born between 1995 and 2012) accounting for almost one-third of the population, according to the Kenya Private Sector Alliance. Nevertheless, the youths are not fully exploited, even as their numbers have increased.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the youth aged between 15 to 34 years constitute the largest group of job seekers, with a high percentage educated and underemployed or in the informal sector.

This is symptomatic of an even greater economic fault line.

As the business community claims, the younger generation lacks the appropriate skills. The young people are aware that they have no chance to apply their talents to something meaningful, which is driving the labour shortage in Kenya.

 What it means for business

Take the example of a manufacturing company in Nakuru interested in venturing into e-commerce. The owner requires employees who can work on the internet sales, online marketing, and inventory software. Applications are being received, and many candidates are not knowledgeable about the tools.

Meanwhile, another company in Nairobi also posts the same job online and receives hundreds of applications, including those from other counties. It is this difference in rural and urban prosperity, training and need that most Kenyan companies must contend with every week.

Human resources have become unmanageable, and traditional recruitment methods will no longer be applicable.

Young people in Kabarnet or Eldoret are not the typical 9-5 workers; they work on flexible schedules.

They would not prefer to be bossed around on what to do. Instead, they would prefer you hear them, yet not to be controlled by a memo. Conservative companies that lack direction and growth will lose talent to competitors that offer both.

 It is not about satisfying only a new generation. The nature of work is changing. Logistics, agricultural, and financial employment currently require data literacy. Small businesses are also being compelled to think more digitally. Not just a question of getting the workers, but for the leaders, it is a question of redesigning the work so it can be more fluid, technology-infused, and human-centred.

What it means for policy

The young generation is a gift and a warning in Kenya. Where more than 35 per cent of the potential workforce is less than 35, either you have a source of innovation, or you have a source of frustration.

According to government records, older age groups have been occupying a high percentage of jobs in the public service, with under-25s comprising less than three per cent of the civil servants. It is a disparity that highlights the lag of institutions in making essential points of entry with younger professionals.

This will not be corrected by education reform. Universities and TVETs (Technical Vocational Education and Training institutions) must also begin training for existing jobs in green energy, digital agriculture, artificial intelligence, and logistics.

Policy should also, however, establish incentives to ensure that industries grow beyond Nairobi. Kabartonjo or Kabarnet will never turn into an industrial metropolis, but with the appropriate digital infrastructure, they can create small-tech startups that can employ the locals.

Kenya cannot afford to lose the youth to underemployment or emigration. It cannot afford to stand idle, still relying on old job types.

The world is moving toward a skills-based labour market; Kenya‘s labour sector should do the same. And that is to appreciate what people have, not what their papers are.

What it means for people

The Kenya workplace change is intended to facilitate a dynamic, skill-driven working environment grounded in lifelong learning. Adaptability and development are what make one a success, rather than tradition and patience.

The future employees will be those who keep up with the times, the employees who can code today, do something tomorrow, and write about the same thing the next day.

The main character is an online veggie seller, a woman who sells vegetables in Nakuru and Kabarnet is a self-educated data analyst who telecommutes from Nairobi and works with a financial technology company.

The new generation of workforce is moving the game to a new level.

The owners and managers of businesses should be educated that Gen Z cherishes feedback, freedom, and self-development, as well as a flexible, technology-oriented leadership style.

Afterthought 

Productivity in Kenya will not revolve around factory production or boardroom meetings.

The question is whether or not systems can be compatible with people. On the one hand, it may appear that Kenya‘s demographic growth is destined to make it the most significant power through the development of businesses, schools, and policies.

Otherwise, we will be viewers of a dynamic yet distant generation that does not understand the trend in the economic arena. Decisions are made on the radar screen, but the future is yours.

The writer is a human-centred strategist and leadership columnist shaping leadership conversations across Africa and beyond.