This archive report was first published on 25 July 2020.
Development is fundamentally about people, and a developed society is one where individuals have a decent standard of living. One way to guarantee this is through permanent employment, which not only provides predictable income but also enables individuals to participate meaningfully in society.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics' 2017 census of industrial production, only about 200,000 individuals were permanently employed in the manufacturing sector. This means more than 150,000 employees in the manufacturing sector were either contract, casual, apprentice, or unpaid workers.
Employment in manufacturing accounted for two percent of the total labor force and just over 13 percent of the formal sector employment. In comparison, Vietnam's manufacturing employment as a share of employment was 17.4 percent in 2017.
As the government works to increase the share of manufacturing in the economy from 10 percent to 15 percent, it's essential to ensure that growth in manufacturing is accompanied by growth in the number of decent jobs. This includes providing training, unemployment insurance, and the possibility of retraining for workers in a growing manufacturing sector.
Investments in systems that provide decent standards of living and can withstand economic shocks, such as Covid-19, are also crucial. Effective provision of public goods and services would undoubtedly serve to lower the cost of living, thereby guaranteeing our workers decent living and economic security.
SEE ALSO: Impact of COVID-19 on the gig economy
