List of Kenya’s best paying sectors

A bank worker serves customers. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By LYNET IGADWAH

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Summary

• Workers offering financial and insurance services pocketed an average Sh146,630 per month, representing a growth of less than one per cent.
• Workers in institutions supplying electricity, gas and air-conditioning on average earned Sh134,442 monthly, up from Sh121,998 in 2016, representing rise of 10.2 per cent.
• Domestic workers, including gardeners and nannies, had an average monthly wage of Sh19,469 last year.

Employees in the financial services remained the best paid private sector workers in the country last year while those in water supply, sewerage and waste management earned the lowest average wages, fresh economic data shows.

The Economic Survey 2018, released Wednesday shows that workers offering financial and insurance services pocketed an average Sh146,630 per month, representing a growth of less than one per cent.

Reduced or slower growth in bankers’ profitability mainly due on commercial bank lending rates imposed September 2016 could be behind the measly pay increment.

Workers in institutions supplying electricity, gas and air-conditioning on average earned Sh134,442 monthly, up from Sh121,998 in 2016, representing rise of 10.2 per cent

This captures workers in firms like Kenya Power

, Geothermal Development Corporation and KenGen

.

Dominant sectors of the economy such as agriculture, which accounts for 31 per cent of gross domestic product, manufacturing (10 per cent) and real estate (7.8 per cent) paid the least, fuelling the growing pay inequality in Kenya.

Using the average wage as a yard stick in assessing sector earnings may, however, not paint a clear picture since senior staff ordinarily skew the rankings given that a majority of employees earn less than the average pay.

Firms in administrative and support services space remained the third-most lucrative employer in the private sector, registering average wages of Sh123, 685 per month, up Sh116, 156, reflecting a growth of 6.4 per cent.

READ: Fewer workers earn over Sh100,000 as economy slows

Workers in the hospitality industry had a monthly average pay of Sh108,748. They joined the financial, electricity and administrate services in earning more than Sh100,000 monthly.

Domestic workers, including gardeners and nannies, had an average monthly wage of Sh19,469 last year.

But those dealing in water supply, sewerage and waste management earned Sh19,615, making them the least paid among private sector workers.

Workers employed in agriculture —the single largest employer — were paid slightly higher at an average monthly wage of Sh25,283 last year, up from Sh22,837, reflecting a 10.7 per cent pay rise.

Despite employing the largest number of workers — a fifth of all formally employed staff in the private sector— the low pay in agriculture is seen as weighing down overall earnings in the formal sector.

The survey found the average monthly wage in the private sector stood at Sh56, 624, which is lower compared to Sh57, 915 paid to civil servants.