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Skills gap fears as 35pc of govt staff to retire in a decade

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Delegates during the 2017 Annual Retirement Conference in Mombasa on September 21, 2017. Photo | Kevin Odit

At least 35 per cent of government employees will formally retire in the next ten years, raising fears that their exit will create a gap in expertise in several public sectors.

According to the Kenya School of Government eLearning & Development Institute (eLDi), the retiring workers have amassed quality knowledge in their line of duty that may still need to be tapped.

“We have a group of employees who cannot fit in some of the positions owning to job requirements, while on the other hand, we a crop of workers exiting the scene with a wealth of experience,” noted eLDi deputy director Vera Obonyo today.

She attributed the impending skills gap to a slowdown in employment by previous regimes, thereby creating a void in job experience that is yet to be filled.

To this end, eLDi says more than 1,500 public officers who have attained retirement age have been offered running contracts with the government keen on retaining their knowledge.

She was speaking Thursday at a Kenya School of Government (KSG) knowledge management forum in Naivasha.

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