Kenyan banks cut their clerical staff by 5.5 per cent in the year to December, driven by increased adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) that has automated many tasks once handled by humans.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) reports that while lenders generally grew their workforce during the year, clerical roles were the only category to record a decline, marking its second consecutive drop.
Overall, total bank staff rose by 907, or 2.4 per cent, to 38,840 from 37,933 in 2023. However, clerical employees – who previously formed the bulk of banking staff – fell by 713, from 12,882 to 12,169.
This comes as half of the banks now report use of artificial intelligence technologies in their operations, a move which many of them say has led to resource optimization, including rationalisation of staff.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) headquarters in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“Management, supervisory, and secretarial and other staff cadres increased by 938, 368, and 314, respectively. Large peer group banks had the largest increase in the total number of staff,” notes CBK in its Bank Supervision Annual Report.
The number of clerical staff in banks recorded a decline of 0.1 per cent in 2023, reversing a trend of steady growth in previous years, with the most notable recent increase being a 9.3 per cent rise in 2022.
Management positions – involving planning, compliance oversight, operational leadership, and team coordination – rose to 12,407, an 8.2 per cent increase from 11,469 in 2023, making them the largest staff category in the sector. Supervisory roles grew 4.3 per cent to 9,025, while secretarial and other support staff rose 6.4 per cent to 5,239.
Clerical work in banks typically covers transaction processing, including recording deposits, withdrawals, and transfers, handling documentation, and indirectly assisting customers. Many of these tasks have now been automated by AI.
A recent CBK survey found that AI is most often used for credit risk assessment, cybersecurity, fraud risk management, know-your-customer checks, general risk management, product personalisation, client relations, and anti-money laundering compliance.
These functions overlap with clerical duties but can be performed faster and more accurately by AI systems, reducing the need for human input. Banks adopting AI say it has boosted performance and efficiency by “better utilisation of staff and systems.”
The decline in clerical jobs was anticipated. The World Economic Forum, in a 2023 whitepaper on AI’s impact on employment, predicted that clerical roles would be among the hardest hit by automation. The global think tank estimated that up to 81 per cent of tasks handled by clerical officers in banks could be fully automated, potentially leaving many without jobs.
