This archive report was first published on 23 November 2019.
Kenya's Best and Worst Paying Jobs List Revealed ¶
According to official data, international non-governmental organisations and the financial services sector have the highest paying jobs in Kenya's formal employment market. In contrast, agro-based firms have the lowest-paying jobs.
Released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the data shows that a fifth of employees in the top two sectors earn more than Sh100,000 per month, with the highest concentration of top earners.
Key sectors in the economy, such as agriculture, transport, manufacturing, and real estate, paid the least. Agriculture's share of the top earners was a measly 0.9 percent, while the ICT sector had 3.2 percent of its workers earning above Sh100,000.
The foreign-backed NGOs employed a total of 1,345 staff, with 270 of them earning more than Sh100,000 monthly. These organisations had no employees earning less than Sh20,000 per month.
On the other hand, 60 percent or 202,311 employees in the agriculture sector earned less than Sh25,000. The high compensation among the institutions is seen as arising from the fact that they are well funded and rely heavily on highly skilled professionals.
Professionals working in the sector include ambassadors, commercial attaches, senior executives, consultants, and programme officers. They are represented by employees working in agencies such as the United Nations and embassies.
The financial services sector was second, with 11,598 employees or 15.3 percent of its 75,621 workforce earning above Sh100,000. The industry had no worker earning less than Sh15,000 per month.
Arts and entertainment sector was third, with 550 or 7.5 percent of its 7,243 employees in the top most income bracket. The lowest-paid staff in the industry earned the equivalent of Sh10,000 per month.
The KNBS data also revealed the industries with the lowest remuneration, with mining and household jobs having no single employee earning more than Sh100,000 based on income tax filings with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
Released on November 23, 2019, the data sheds light on the growing income inequality in the country, with the biggest employers offering only a living wage to most of their workers.
