Labour crisis: Widening skills gap costs local graduates jobs

Joshua Kiptanui has been jobless for the past four years.

“I got my first job soon after graduation in 2010. It lasted for five months. My employer said that I was not skilled,” says the electrical engineering graduate.

Mr Kiptanui is not the only one in this predicament. The widening gap between training in school and the skills employers want has been edging out many graduates from companies.

According to a report by US-based Results for Development Institute, local institutions have failed to impart to learners leadership, communication, decision-making, and critical thinking skills.

“Non-cognitive skills are becoming increasingly important as economies change. The theoretical knowledge being acquired in classrooms is just the tip of the iceberg and is insufficient by itself,” notes the report.

The question of unskilled manpower came out prominently in 2011 when the Engineers Registration Board, the Kenya Medical Laboratory and Technicians Board, and the Council of Legal Education refused to recognise degrees from some local universities due to low quality curricula, omission of critical units in the courses, and negligent student supervision.

LACK OF PERSONNEL

Mr Martin Mwinzi, also an engineering graduate, was a victim and is still suffering. Although electrical engineering has traditionally been a rewarding course, he is yet to get his dream job: “Many of the employers I have submitted my resume to don’t think I am qualified,” says the 30-year-old.

Alarmingly, even with the emerging oil and hydro carbon business, the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) sees the industry leaving local graduates in the cold to scout for fresh blood elsewhere. The ongoing work at the port is another grave concern due to lack of personnel with the necessary skills.

Kenya has a growing deficit in skilled labour. In the information technology sector, for instance, innovative thinking, problem solving, and project management and implementation are ranked as the top three skills lacking in locally trained IT graduates.

“A quarter of the companies are not satisfied with the quality of IT professionals from institutions in Kenya while a third of the firms have contracted or plan to contract external providers to manage the skills shortages,” says a survey conducted by the Kenya ICT Board.

The country does not have a national manpower strategy to align human resources with the needs of the changing labour market.

“We have been seeing more foreign universities come in and people are choosing them over local ones because they are more likely to develop well-rounded graduates,” says Ms Philomena Nekesa, an educationist based in Nakuru.

In February, FKE started a programme to bridge the gap between formal education and industrial skills. According to the chief executive, Ms Jacqueline Mugo, this will be done through global apprenticeship for university students.

“The programme will form linkages between the learning institutions and both local and foreign companies to offer students internships,” she said.

To remedy the situation, some firms have started partnerships with universities to train staff. Safaricom and Strathmore University are cooperating to offer a Master of Science degree in mobile telecommunications and innovation.

Speaking last year, Safaricom’s learning and development manager, Mr Peter Njioka noted: “Although theoretical knowledge and technical training are critical, Safaricom places a premium on skills like innovation and creative thinking. These are the skills that drive the company forward.”

The Strathmore University-based Safaricom Academy has been sharpening the skills of postgraduate students and entrepreneurs from the computer science, information technology, and engineering fields.

The Kenya Maritime Authority has partnered with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and Pwani University to offer training tailored to equip manpower with the requisite skills ahead of the opening of the Lamu Port and offshore oil drilling.

According to finance expert James Njenga, students who align their training with construction, innovation in IT, oil and gas drilling, and the port stand to gain.

“University students have been opting out of engineering and taking what they perceive as flashy courses like mass communication.

Consequently, the market is now flooded with a skill which employers still find below par,” adds Mr Njenga.

Currently, the country has less than 15 qualified neurosurgeons. “This is a lengthy and demanding course that students would rather not sweat for,” says Ms Nekesa.

Lack of skills has not been confined to the formal sector. According to the Results for Development Institute report, jua kali and other small and medium enterprises have plenty of opportunities.

“The informal economy contributes 80 per cent to the job market and, thus, workers need to be more self-reliant, especially given that they are mostly self-employed and always have to run along the entire value chain in managing their businesses.”

So why are students reluctant to take up courses that are skills-oriented? Money got startling revelations. “I prefer to do public relations than medicine or engineering. It takes less time and allows me to go out, get a job, and start earning,” says Ms Maryanne Atieno, a university student in Nairobi who scored A- (minus) in her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education.

Many graduates entering the job market eye white-collar jobs: “I don’t need to join the less learned employees in doing menial jobs. I should be their manager,” says Ms Catherine Kariuki, a Bachelor of Business Administration graduate.

However, according to Mr Njenga, the employees deemed to be junior and less qualified may actually possess the skills which employers demand due to the nature of their work.

Nonetheless, universities have been recording increased appetite for Master’s and PhD courses. And with a Master’s programme going for a minimum of Sh280,000, the biggest beneficiaries have been lecturers, doctors, and professors.

SERVICES IN DEMAND

“There is a huge staffing gap in many universities. This is good news for professors and lecturers, whose services are in demand,” says Mr Njenga.

The new pay deal reached between university staff unions and the government in March gives professors in public universities better pay, making the field even more attractive.

Public and private institutions have been battling to get the finest staff in the labour market. And as Money found out, many lecturers prefer to take up teaching posts in private institutions, where the pay is better than in public universities.