The number of jobs in public service has risen by 27 percent in the five years to June 2022 despite various initiatives to contain the headcount through hiring freezes, a new report has shown.
The expansion in jobs in the sector to 252,007 as reported by the Public Service Commission (PSC) from 198,119 in 2017/18 has upset consolidation plans in public service, denying government savings from a leaner wage bill.
The PSC also says the expansion goes against the intended consequence of heavy investments in technology by the government, which was expected to cut numbers.
“It was not clear what had led to the continued growth of staff numbers against the functions even with continued deployment and uptake of technology at the workplace,” the PSC stated in its 2021/2022 annual report.
To correct the bulge, the PSC is expected to summon the board of 15 institutions with excess staff this month.
Constitutional commissions and independent offices recorded the biggest jumps in new openings at 224 percent with their staff growing from 1,452 in the 2017/18 fiscal year to 4,711 in the year ended June 2022.
State corporations and semi-autonomous government agencies have meanwhile recorded a 31.8 percent growth in staff levels to 104,888 while employment in ministries and departments has grown by 15.7 percent to 99,628.
Statutory commissions and authorities have recorded a 21 percent growth in job placements to 1,808 while technical, vocational education and training institutions have 14,124.
Public universities, however, bucked the trend by recording a nine percent decline from 29,501 to 26,848.
The bloated jobs in public service are partly attributable to agencies whose workers are above the recommended optimal staffing levels.
The PSC, for instance, flags 15 institutions for having numbers above the optimal levels.
Five of the 15 institutions, including the Kenya Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Council, the State Department for Post Training and Skills Development, Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa), University Education and Devolution were over-established by more than 50 percent.
“Institutions which operate beyond the optimal staffing levels may lead to wastage and uneconomic use of resources,” the PSC added.
Other agencies with excess employees include Coast Water Works Development Agency, Kenya Re, Gender and Transport.
Kemsa has 754 workers against a requirement of 341. University Education has 194 staff against a requirement of 116.
The PSC says it will set staffing thresholds based on the capacity of the economy to sustain the wage bill.
All public institutions are expected to bridge the difference between the highest allowable numbers and actual job postings with audits set to establish reasons for the variance.
The analysis of staff levels in public service is based on a survey of 525 institutions in six service sectors that had a response rate of 90.9 percent.
Staffing levels above the optimum range are expected to keep pressure on government fiscal operations with recurrent spending sitting above targets by Sh106.8 billion in six months to December 2022.
