When the government implemented strict measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic including the partial closure of the economy, job losses became a predictable eventuality in the aftermath.
As His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta would later put it, the decision to partially shut the economy was a hard choice between two rights- the clear winner emerging to be the health and indeed a good decision for the nation safety.
Among the worst hit sectors were tourism and entertainment as local flights, hotels, bars and entertainment joints shut down.
The dusk to dawn curfew which first commenced at 7pm to 5am further trimmed daily work hours below the tradition eight hours represented by the 9-5pm routine.
Back in April, the evening rush hour moved back to 3pm as Kenyans from all walks of life dashed to beat the after dusk curfew.
Subsequently, the low output characterizing the COVID-19 period forced employers to trim staff bases in a cost management venture that saw thousands more sent home on unpaid leave.
Jobs losses and salary cuts.
Job losses continue to characterize the country’s labour force to date despite an ease to restrictions to manage the pandemic.
However, the economy has been rebounding revealing an ironic turn out of affairs.
For instance, according to the monthly published Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) by Stanbic Bank which measures the performance of the private sector, business activity improved for a second straight month in August.
The demand for goods and services had rebounded with an improvement in customer footfalls.The macroeconomic environment was indicative of expansion with new export orders rising to all-time record during demand with demand from local goods in Europe being the highlight.Nevertheless, local firms continued to shed jobs in what emerges as a continued sacrifice of employees in a move to drive down business costs.For instance, staff costs declined for a fifth straight month in the survey’s series with the report indicating firms still viewed costs as too high. 1.7 million August’s private sector performance came just days after the release of the second quarter report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).According to report covering April to June, Kenya had lost a further 1,716,604 jobs in the period.The number of the employed tumbled to 15.9 million at the end of June from 17.8 million in March.The revelation which added to the loss of in-excess of 200,000 jobs between January and March reveals the dent created in the country’s labour force […]
