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How to create jobs in the era of automation
Youths enrolled in Kazi Mtaani demonstrate over delayed payment of their dues in this picture taken on September 24, 2020.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
What you need to know:
- The government should look for a feasible solution that will instill hope — by creating decent jobs.
- A good job is consistent 30-plus hours a week with a pay cheque from an employer.
The economy has been on an upswing in the past two decades. Statistics show GDP is at Sh11 trillion, making Kenya the sixth-wealthiest in Africa. But GDP does not rhyme with the unemployment rate, which the World Bank data show is increasing.
Jim Clifton, the Gallup chairman, says in The Coming Jobs War that jobs and GDP live together, are cause and effect of each other. But not here, it seems. The political and business leaders know they need to do more to prepare workforces for the labour market in an age of rising automation, stagnant wages and greater part-time, temporary and contingent employment.
