Stop telling youth to start businesses yet you are employed

“Unemployed graduates are lazy. They should focus on becoming employers not employees.”

You must have heard this numerous times whenever people are discussing unemployment in the country.

Each year, universities produce thousands of graduates but the reality is, Kenya does not have ready jobs for these qualified young people.

Those who are employed often refer to the unemployed as lazy and lacking basic skills but this is not true.

First of all, business needs capital. Where do you expect a graduate to get this money from? Considering most still have a HELB loan to think about?

Seeking an alternative plan when jobs are not coming your way is essential but we ought to appreciate the fact that not everyone was cut out for business.

In fact, for most of us, our parents drilled into our minds that the only way we can succeed is to score straight A’s in school, go to university and pursue ‘big’ courses and later get employment.

For some, this plan works out perfectly but that is just for some.

Whenever top KCPE/KCSE candidates speak about the courses they want to pursue, they often revolve around Medicine, Engineering and Aeronautical Science.

There is nothing wrong about this but perhaps students should be guided a little bit more when it comes to career choices.

Once a graduate with this kind of mentality leaves college, they will expect to be employed, almost immediately.

Unfortunately, this is never the case. You might toil with your First Class degree and trust me no one will feel sympathetic because even those you come across might be going through the same predicament.

Then ‘experts’ (who are permanently employed) will argue that the youth need to be innovative yet some of them have literally refused to leave office despite being well advanced in terms of age.

If you serve in a particular position for close to two decades, where do you expect fresh graduates to plug in?

Let us be realistic, there are people who flourish in business and there are others who function better in employment.

The government should perhaps focus on creating more sustainable opportunities for young people.

That said, graduates need to be open minded. Nothing comes easy. You ought to start from somewhere.

The faster you adapt, the better.