Analysis of Factors Affecting Employability Rate Among Youth in Kenya by Using Generalized Linear Model .
Abstract
In Kenya, youth (age 18-34 years) has been facing employment challenges yet they are
in their crucial stage of transitioning from dependence to self-reliance. They are also the
majority in the country and are expected to drive social, economic and political developments.
To address employment challenges, the government, nongovernment institutions
and private sector has come up with interventions aimed at offering financial support,
offering entrepreneurial skills and offering jobs to the youth. Despite the efforts, little
is known on what matters for the youth in terms of their employment preference and
determinants of employment preferences. The objective of this study is to inform decision
makers on youth employment preference that can help in recruiting, retention and
motivation of youth in the labour market. Specifically, the study aimed at establishing
the youth employment preference and explore the factors related to youth employment
preferences. A total of 650 youth participated in the study between November 2017 and
March 2018, involving 127 unemployed, 343 employed and 180 self-employed youth. The
study used a multinomial logit model to examine the determinants of youth employment
preference in the private sector, public sector and self-employment in Kenya. The results
indicate that, largely, youth prefer employment in public sector than in private sector due
to job security and better payment. Youth employment preference in either private, public
or self- employment are influenced by education, income, job security, participation
in decision making and career growth among others. Employed youth and selfemployed
prefer their current employment in private sector and self-employment, respectively, possibly
because it was the only alternative available to them and also education level was
not a hindrance to employment in the two sectors. Most youth in self-employment were
in their first job and had limited work experience, which is a requirement in public and
private employment and therefore their preference of self-employment. For employers
to provide job security for the youth and improve on their company’s productivity, the
government needs to collaborate with the private sector in ensuring that youth acquire
skills demanded in the labour market,
and link skilled youth to employers, which is likely to lead to employment of skilled youth,
high profit, provision of good working conditions including job security. With the current
government move in providing tax abatement to the private sector who offer youth
internship intended to enhance employability of youth, the government needs to monitor
internship programmes to ensure that the private sector does not make internship and
industrial attachments an opportunity for engaging cheap labour from youth as interns.
Youth involvement during designing, implementing and evaluating programmes aimed at
them is important in ensuring that what is provided relevant to the them.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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