Kenya: Capturing Skills Requirements and Assessing Skills Gaps in the Modern Economy

This paper finds that skills constraints – related to a broad set of skills - have an effect on job creation and labor market outcomes in Kenya. Most seriously, skills shortages negatively impact recruitment and have been identified across a broad set of socioemotional skills and cognitive skills that are necessary for any occupation. Employers have reported concerns with the level and relevance of skills amongst job applicants and recently hired workers, which implies that these jobs are now being occupied by ‘mismatched’ workers.