Hopeless Hunt: Why most Kenyans have stopped searching for jobs

In the corners of urban estates, under tree shades in towns, behind kiosks or on half-built construction sites, Kenyan youths gather — not for work, but because there’s nowhere else to go.

These informal hangout spots are known simply as “baze,” for many young, jobless Kenyans, the “baze” is both refuge and trap.

It's where entire days are spent talking politics, watching football, charging phones at local kiosks, playing cards, or simply passing time waiting for something to happen. That “something” rarely does.

The trend has led to a new paradox that is now is unfolding, despite widespread lack of jobs, the vast majority of unemployed Kenyans have stopped searching for work.

A Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) report—titled Job Search and Sectors of Employment in Kenya paints a grim picture of Kenya’s employment landscape, where only about four per cent of the unemployed are looking for work.

According to policy analysts, among those unemployed, four per cent were engaged in job search, while none of those who were employed reported having participated in job search.

“The relatively low rate may be a result of a number of reasons, including discouragement from prolonged unemployment, lack of resources such as limited access to the Internet, transportation and financial resources required to process applications,” said Michael Ogolla, an economist and co-author of the report.

The survey shows that thousands of job seekers, particularly the youth, have stopped actively looking for work.

Many cite repeated rejections, exploitative wages, and a lack of viable opportunities as reasons for their withdrawal from the labor market.

Of the 17,342 unemployed Kenyans who were contacted for the survey, only 698 had actively looked for jobs.

This shows that 95.98 per cent of the jobless did not make any effort to secure employment.

According to KIPPRA the vast majority of employed Kenyans are also not actively seeking better or alternative employment opportunities, despite widespread underemployment, low wages, and difficult working conditions in many sectors.

Findings show that young Kenyans, burdened by discouragement, skill mismatches, and financial constraints, are pulling back from the hunt.

“I was once called for a job interview I passed the first one where we were about 60 applicants, I was among the 10 chosen for the second interview and eventually four of us were called for the third interview,” says Jacob Macharia a university graduate who studied media.

He continues “We even went ahead and did orientation at the religious media outlet, then after a week we were told to wait for phone calls, none of us was ever called.”

This being his second time to experience this, he believes that the process was only used to tick the boxes after which, other candidates were put to replace them.

This, he says, made him stop applying for jobs and is only looking for someone to ‘fix’ him somewhere.

The Policy analysist at KIPPRA say that similar to Macharia, job seekers holding university education are the majority ‘hustlers’ – and they recorded the highest number of those looking for employment.

About four per cent of those with university education are engaged in job searching, compared to 0.85 per cent of those with primary school education, 1.87 per cent with secondary education level and 2.65 per cent holding Vocational and college qualification.

“82 per cent of those who engaged in job search were looking for waged employment,” the survey sats in part.

KIPPRA’s dataset shows that among jobless youth aged 20–29, participation in job search was particularly low—hovering around the overall four per cent average.

The report correlates this with “discouragement from prolonged job searches” and a broader “lack of awareness” on how to pursue opportunities.

Ogolla says one of the primary reasons employees are reluctant to switch jobs is the fear of losing a stable income in an unpredictable economy.

Many workers prefer the security of their existing positions over the risks associated with transitioning to a new role.

Additionally, limited awareness of available job openings has contributed to the stagnation.

Many employees, particularly in sectors such as education, hospitality, agriculture, and construction, are either unaware of better opportunities or do not expect significantly higher pay elsewhere.

Older workers also face diminishing prospects in the private sector, where age bias often limits their chances of being hired.

Meanwhile, women—especially mothers—struggle to balance job searches with childcare responsibilities, reducing their ability to actively pursue new roles.

Unemployment levels in Kenya remain worryingly high, further exacerbating the issue.

According to the 2024 Gross County Product (GCP) report, as of 2022, the total working population in Kenya stood at nearly 20 million people, out of an estimated 52 million citizens.

The working population comprises 10.48 million men and 9.52 million women, with men slightly outnumbering women in the workforce.

The report provides a breakdown of employment across the country, highlighting that Nairobi, the capital, has the highest number of working individuals, with 2.19 million people employed.

This reflects Nairobi's status as the economic hub of the country. Following Nairobi are Kiambu with 1.29 million workers and Nakuru with 947,626, both of which are significant urban centres with considerable economic activity.

On the other hand, counties with smaller populations and fewer economic opportunities, such as Lamu (44,926), Isiolo (48,293), and Samburu (43,428), have the lowest working populations.

The study by the public policy think tank, also sought to explore where people work—or hope to.

It found that sectors with growth potential include agriculture (particularly agro-processing), ICT, tourism, education, and transport.

Yet, only a fraction of job seekers aims for formal roles: most fall into informal work or small-scale farming—sectors that absorb 83 per cent of the workforce but often offer meager income and little stability.