Kenyan firms freeze new hiring, suspend pay rise

Flat or declining sales coupled with growing concern over the August 8 General Election have left dark clouds hanging over the labour market, forcing the majority of employers to freeze plans to hire or raise workers’ salaries, a newly-released report says.

The job market survey, conducted by Corporate Staffing Services using data from the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM), found that 73 per cent of employers across 12 sectors have stopped new hiring.