Wednesday, February 12, 2024 – Thousands of employees are now staring at job losses thanks to President William Ruto’s appetite for money.
This is after more than 250 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)
announced plans to reduce their workforce within the next two months due to the
rising cost of doing business.
In a survey conducted among 1,000 CEOs by the Central Bank
of Kenya across various fields, 25.7 per cent of the respondents intimated that
they would let some of their employees go as they undertake austerity measures
to reduce operation costs.
On the other hand, 637 respondents revealed that they would
not be seeking to make any recruitments between February and March, a
revelation that cast doom among job seekers.
Notably, out of the 1,000 CEOs, only 106 of them revealed that
they would be adding more people to their workforce.
According to the report, the looming projection is that the
job market has been occasioned by the increased costs of doing business which
is also attributed to increased taxation.
Notably, employers have been among those affected by
taxation policies included in the Finance Act 2023, which introduced additional
costs for employers, including the 1.5 per cent housing levy.
Additionally, rates were increased with another looming
increase in deductions for Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
Already, private security companies have warned that
they could lay off half of their staff should the government enforce the
Ksh35,000 minimum salary directive.
Meanwhile, three international companies, including Procter and
Gamble, and Bayer are expected to exit the Kenyan market in the next two years,
a move that will render over 1,000 employees jobless.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
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