Coronavirus has altered the jobs market by not only reducing vacancies, but it is also changing the nature of opportunities available.
Tech firms advertised 14.1 per cent of the jobs while NGOs and warehousing firms took 10.9 per cent and seven per cent of the listings.
The share of new job adverts by firms in the education sector, banking and health care dipped in the first eight months compared to last year.
Public service, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and firms in the information technology sector accounted for the largest share of new job opportunities during the Covid-19 era, says a new report.
The report released on Wednesday by employment listing website BrighterMonday shows that some companies and industries are hiring despite the pandemic having devastated businesses across Kenya.
The government accounted for 15 per cent of employment notices in the eight months to August when Kenya imposed restrictions to curb Covid-19, triggering layoffs and pay cuts in corporate Kenya.
“From our survey, we saw that there are some jobs that due to the Covid-19 some have taken a back seat while demand for others increased mainly for IT. This is mainly because as companies opted for the work from home, then demand IT services grew,” BrighterMonday CEO Emmanuel Mutuma said.
“As for the government, it has been the biggest employer and we saw this trend remain un-affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Tech firms advertised 14.1 per cent of the jobs while NGOs and warehousing firms took 10.9 per cent and seven per cent of the listings.
Coronavirus has altered the jobs market by not only reducing vacancies, but it is also changing the nature of opportunities available.
Many of the roles are in industries that have experienced demand, such as doorstep deliveries, mobile phone data and sale of communication gadgets like laptops.
Among the winners of the job shifts have been technology firms that have benefited from remote working introduced to curb the spread of the virus.
Safaricom #ticker:SCOM, for instance, said mobile phone data usage had jumped as users streamed movies, worked from home and used social media sites like Facebook.
Demand for IT services, including installation of Internet in offices and homes and use of remote conferencing platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, have been on the surge since March when the State and private firms directed staff to work from home in a bid to curb the spread of the Covid-19 disease.
Firms in hospitality and tourism and media did not post any job openings in the period, underlining the adverse effects of the Covid-19 restrictions that instead forced them to lay off workers in response to dwindling revenues.
The report shows that NGOs share of job adverts dropped from 18.4 percent they recorded in the eight months to August last year as the organisations grappled with funding cuts by international donors.
The survey came amid a grim period for workers and businesses during the peak of Covid-19 restrictions covering travel mass gathering, a dusk-to-dawn curfew and closure of schools.
The restrictions were imposed on March 25, and on July 6 the government announced a phased reopening of the country, lifting restrictions on travel in and out of Nairobi and Mombasa as well as allowing air travel to resume.
The share of new job adverts by firms in the education sector, banking and health care dipped in the first eight months compared to last year.
The three sectors have recorded a drop in earnings on reduced demand and losses linked to defaulted loans for the lenders.
Young people
About 1.72 million workers lost jobs in the three months to June when Kenya imposed the coronavirus-induced partial lockdown, with young people being the hardest hit.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the number of people in employment fell to 15.87 million between April and end of June compared to 17.59 million the previous quarter.
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