Since the year 2013, several companies have either sacked or announced they would sack some of their employees in a bid to cut costs and streamline their operations. Since that year, over 5,000 Kenyans have lost jobs and more are expected to be shown the door in the coming months.
Below is a summary of the companies which have laid off some of their employees since Uhuru took over as president.
COMPANY NAME | NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES SACKED |
ROYAL MEDIA SERVICES | 100 |
STANDARD MEDIA GROUP | 50 |
NATION MEDIA GROUP | 50+ |
MEDIAMAXNETWORK | 10+ |
EAST AFRICAN PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY | 1000 |
EQUITY BANK | 400 |
SAMEER AFRICA | 630 |
KENYA AIRWAYS | 200+ |
FAMILY BANK | 100+ |
AIRTEL KENYA | 100+ |
MUMIAS SUGAR | 100+ |
UCHUMI SUPERMARKET | 500+ |
The most affected companies include East African Portland Cement, Sameer Africa, Kenya Airways and Uchumi Supermarket, which have sacked a total of 2,000 workers in a span of 3 years.
The media industry, which was thriving during the time of president Kibaki, has sacked thousands of workers in a span of 3 years, more are expected to be sacked as we head towards elections. More than 300 journalists were sacked by three media houses in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Since the capping of interest rates, several banks have announced plans to downsize their work force. This is in a bid to cut costs and maintain profit margins. Standard Chartered Bank, KCB and Co-operative bank are among banks which are expected to sack employees.