Some 2,234 employees of Kenya Power have retired since 2020, exerting pressure on the electricity distributor to increase hiring and boost service delivery amid fast growing customer numbers.
The company disclosed the exits in its latest annual report saying it expects an extra 488 to leave by June 2026, bringing the total number of retirees to 2,722 over the six-year period.
Kenya Power has since been forced to adopt a phased recruitment to avert a staffing crisis especially for its technical departments and ensure improved response to its over 10 million customers.
The hiring offers a ray of hope to Kenyans amid a spiraling unemployment rate, made worse by a freeze that the National Treasury imposed on recruitment for new positions at all state corporations.
“Over the last five years, 2,234 staff have exited the company due to natural attrition, with projected 488 retirements over the next two years,” Kenya Power says.
Kenya Power had last year warned that it faced a staffing deficit, which could hamper service delivery.
“The company hired 846 employees to fill resource gaps in key customer-facing functions towards bridging the current staffing deficit of 2,981 employees,” Kenya Power said then.
It hired 490 workers in the year ended June 2025, bringing its total workforce to 10,582 with the increased number pushing up expenses on salaries and allowances of permanent staff by 8.7 per cent to Sh19.29 billion.
Eighty-five per cent of the current staff or at least 8,994 are in the technical department and tasked with managing the national grid which spans 328,000 kilometres.
A Kenya Power technician fixes a transmission line.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Kenya Power had frozen hiring for six years but resumed recruitment in the year that ended June 2023, with the addition of 363 employees. It is set to continue hiring in a bid to boost customer service delivery.
“For this reason (high retirement rate), the company is implementing a three-year manpower development plan that will address staffing gaps and succession planning while prioritising critical skills," Kenya Power added.
High costs mainly for electricity purchases and tax pressures had forced Kenya Power to freeze new hiring.
The firm’s employee to customer ratio has continued to widen amid a surge in the number of new connections.
A Kenya Power employee carries out repairs on Haile Selassie Road, Mombasa.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The ratio stood at one employee for every 951 customers in the year ended June 2025 compared to one worker to 439 customers nine years ago, underscoring the impact of increased connections.
Kenya Power had 10.06 million customers as at June this year, compared to 6.18 million in 2016, a growth that has significantly driven electricity sales and revenues.
