Skilled youth need decent jobs, are we creating them?

Speak to anyone on the streets of Nairobi and they will tell you they know of at least one skilled youth unable to get decent work. A report released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2018 revealed that nine out of every ten unemployed Kenyans are 35 years and below. The 2019 Kenya Economic survey reports that 78,400 jobs were created in 2018 compared to 114,400 created in 2017. This decline in job creation has continued to be felt in 2019 adding to the crisis of youth unemployment.

The situation is no different on the global scene. A briefing on the world’s economic situation and prospects in 2019 by the United Nations states that young people are twice as likely to be unemployed compared to adults. It puts the global youth estimated the unemployment rate at 11.8 per cent, a situation not expected to change substantially in near future.