Many youth lack work ethics like honesty. Photo/FILE
By MOSES NJENGA
In Summary
- If we are to create new jobs and keep young people productive, apart from growing the economy and improving institutions, we have a big task to re-engineer our work ethic as a nation.
More than half of our college graduates are said to be half-baked, meaning they do not have employable skills.
Any employer will tell you that academic and technical
qualification only work to pre-qualify the potential employee.
Experience and attitude, referred to soft skills, determine whether you
get the job or not.
If universities are not giving young people the
skills required in the workforce, they will likely graduate without even
the most basic life skills.
It is no surprise, therefore, when the government
laments that the uptake of enterprise funds set aside for young people
to start businesses is very low.
This is a bleak picture when you throw in
unemployment figures of 40 per cent and runaway insecurity problems
blamed mostly on idle youths. Although the economy is showing signs of
steady growth, job creation has not been proportional.
A UNDP paper on Kenya’s youth unemployment showed
one per cent growth in the gross domestic product only produced 0.4 per
cent growth in new jobs. With a population growth of three per cent, the
World Bank estimates that 800,000 Kenyans join the labour market with
only 50,000 able to secure jobs.
There have been a few government incentives that
might help the situation. First, the idea of the Higher Education Loans
Board providing loans for mid-level tertiary institutions is welcome. In
the short term, pressures on the labour market may be reduced if young
people stayed longer in school. For example, if 100,000 youths enrol in
three-year courses every year.
Over the medium term, this will endow young people
with more education to join the labour market in both formal and
informal industries.
Second, part-time apprenticeship programmes to be
offered by the government to university students and the increased
intake by the National Youth Service will hopefully enhance their
chances of getting jobs later.
If the economy keeps growing and creates new jobs
and new opportunities even as youth funds are set aside, we might be
able to erase the bleak picture.
However, more has to be done if the youth have to access money and utilise it efficiently to start sustainable enterprises.
As someone who is working hard in self-employment
and who employs a few people and often interacts with several
entrepreneurs, I have one big quarrel with our society. Our work ethic
is terrible.
Of course I have met many Kenyans who put in a lot
of thought and effort in their work and carry themselves with utmost
integrity. But I have also met many who are the stark opposite. A
colleague running a successful car dealership desires to open a new
shop. His only fear is the ability to find a trustworthy person to run
it.
We all know that supplier who never delivers even
after payment and the tailor who will keep your garment for weeks for
something that can be done in a few minutes. We have all seen the shoddy
contractor whose biggest achievement on the road is creating perpetual
road blocks and dust.
It appears sloth and deceit run deep in the
society, especially among young people. Unfortunately, it is entrenched
by our religious and political leaders who imply there are ways of
prospering outside honest, hard work.
No comments:
Post a Comment