Corporate Staffing Services Kenya 2015 Q1 Talent on employment trends in Kenya. We touch on who is recruiting, top universities in Kenya and top challenges employers faced in the last 12 months.

2. Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Introduction
Key Findings & Implications
1
2
3
Conclusions 4
Recommendations 5
3.1: Organizations Core Business
3.2: Anticipation of Staff Levels in Second Quarter, 2015
3.3: Major Challenges Faced by Employers When Recruiting
3.4: A Choice Between Two Equally Qualified Candidates
3.5: Attributes Employers Look for When Hiring Fresh Graduate
3.6: Public Universities - Employers Prefer Hiring Fresh Graduates From
3.7: Reasons for Preferring Graduates From Selected Public Universities
3.8: Private Universities - Employers Prefer Hiring Fresh Graduates From
3.9: Reasons for Prefering Graduates From selected Private Universities/Colleges
3.10: Staffing Challenges Faced by Organisations in the Past year
Hiring: Trends,challenges & future outlook

3. 1. Executive Summary
CORPORATE STAFFING SERVICES TALENT REPORT Q1 2015
Corporate Staffing Services Ltd commissioned the
consultant to carry out the survey. The survey, was carried
out between January to February 2015. The survey
respondents were head of human resource departments
who are members of the Insitute of Human Resource
Management (IHRM Kenya).
Findings
Majority of employers are looking to keep the number of staff
at the same level, while an equal number expect an
increase in the number of staff in the next quarter. Only a
small portion of the employers anticipate staff layoffs,
especially NGO sector due to lack of funding.
From the survey, the top most challenges faced in recruiting
staff is receiving of too many job applications and poor
quality of candidates who apply for jobs they do not fit in and
unwillingness to relocate. An emerging trend is the
acceptance of job offers then subsequent withdrawal as
candidates seek for counter offers using a new job offer as
a bargaing tool with their current employer.
The majority of the employers consider leadership
experience and volunteering experience most highly when
looking to hire fresh graduates. Other attributes considered
include: educational attainment and involvement in
extracurricular activities.
Results of the survey show that employers assess the area
of specialization of candidates to help choose between two
equally qualified job applicants. In addition, candidate’s
leadership experience, salary expectation, industry
experience and availability are also attributes that help
employers make the hiring decision between two equally
qualified candidates.
Employers in Kenya most prefer hiring fresh graduates from
University of Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta University and
Kenyatta University among the public universities. The main
reason being technical expertise and broad knowldege of
industry displayed by staff and students from these
universities. Other reasons include: the quality of learning
and credibility of the universities and the long standing and
reputation of the university.
Private universities preferred by employers include:
Strathmore University, Daystar University and the Catholic
University of East Africa. Unlike public universities,
employers’ first consideration when hiring graduates from
private universities is reputation, followed closely by
credibility of certificates. Others considerations are: relevant
skills impacted on the graduates and development of
graduates holistically as well as academically.
According to the survey, employers top most challenge
faced in staffing is retaining top talent. This is followed
closely by providing competitive compensation.Others
include: lifting employee morale, managing oragnisational
change, recruiting high skilled applicants and maintaining
productivity levels.
The survey indicates that in the next quarter of 2015, more
job opportunities will be in manufacturing, mining,
construction and transport sectors. However, jobs that
require technical and specialised skills like health,
engineering, financial services and IT still pose a challenge
to find applicants, let alone talented ones.

4. Corporate Staffing Services Ltd is a leading HR Consultancy in Kenya providing recruitment and talent
management services to Kenyan firms and foreign companies looking to hire local staff.
Corporate Staffing in its quest to add value to its clients undertook to conduct a survey on Hiring:
Trends, Challenges and Future Outlook. This is geared towards understanding staffing challenges faced
by employers in sourcing and retaining top talent. Some of the areas surveyed include i.e. which
sectors will have many jobs in the first and second quarter of 2015, skills and qualifications of fresh
graduates and recruitment challenges employers faced in the previous 12 months.
Objectives of the Survey
- To establish common staffing challenges employers are facing in attracting and retaining new staff.
- To Analyse the employers’ attitudes and preferences regarding fresh graduate recruitment
- To gain an understanding of the key attributes sought by employers when hiring fresh graduates
- To establish the sectors/industries likely to have more jobs in 2015 . What are employers hiring plans
for the next quarter (April – June 2015), which industries are doing the most hiring and what positions
are frequently open for recruitment.
Methodology and design
- Survey period: Januray to February 2015)
- Sample size: 205 employers spread across more than 17 different sectors/industries
- Data collection: An online survey was carried out targeting employers in Kenya.
- Responses were collected and findings analysed and compiled into this report.
The survey respondents are human resource professionals who are members of the
Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM Kenya).
2. Introduction
Hiring: Trends,challenges & future outlook

5. 3. Key Findings & Implications
The survey respondents are drawn from the public, private and the NGO (Non Government
Organisations) sectors. Overall, 32% of the survey respondents are from the public sector, 52%
from the private sector and 16% from the NGO organisations.
This is as outlined below.
22.2%
16%
13.9%
10.1%
9.5%
7%
7.5%
5.7% 3.6% 3.2%
1.3%
CORPORATE STAFFING SERVICES TALENT REPORT Q1 2015
3.1. Organizations Core Business
Public Service
NGO
Manufacturing
Consulting
Parastatal
Education
Professional Practice
Banking/ Financial
Retail
Health Care
Media/ Communication

6. 3.2. Anticipation of Staff Levels in Second Quarter, 2015
The poll sought to establish the hiring plans in the respondents organizations in the second quarter
ending June 2015. Results of the survey indicate that 40.4% expect an increase in the number of staff
and another 40.4% anticipate that the number of staff will remain the same in the next quarter. Only
7.7% of the sampled employers are unsure about the changes in the number of staff. However, 11.4%
of respondents foresee staff layoffs. This will occur in organisations that are looking to restructure so as
to lower their payroll costs; majority being in the NGO sector due to non-funding. Figure 3.2 below
illustrates this finding.
The continued decline in the fuel prices from the last quarter will likely impact positively on the job
opportunities within the manufacturing, construction and transport sectors. The decline in fuel costs will
result to a reduction in consumer product prices, cheaper consumer goods will likely increase demand of
products hence increased production to meet this demand. This will translate to more job opportunities
in production and distribution sectors.
Unsure
StaffReduction
StaffRetention
StaffIncrease
40.41%
40.41%
11.40%
7.77%
Hiring: Trends,challenges & future outlook

7. 3.3. Staffing Challenges Faced by Human Resource Managers
Despite continued high unemployment in Kenya, employers find it difficult to fill key positions. Results of the
survey indicate that almost three quarters of the respondents, (71.8%) receive too many job applications that
will require extra time and cost to screen or filter down to find those qualified for the position. Despite the large
number of applicants, it still proves difficult to find top talent with positive attitude towards work. 45.3% of the
respondents mentioned that the candidates who apply for vacancies are of poor quality; as majority of them do
not fit in the positions. 34.3% experience acceptance of job offers then subsequent withdrawal; resulting from
a trend in candidates using job offers as bargaining tool with current employers for counter offers. On the other
hand, 18.8% meet candidates that are unwilling to relocate and 15.5% witness failure to appear for interviews
by shortlisted candidates, due to lack of personal interest in the job; especially in cases of referrals or where
the application is made on their behalf by a second party.
Further, 10.5% of the respondents mentioned that they face the challenge of too few applications especially for
vacancies requiring technical and specialised qualifications. In fields like health, engineering, financial services
and IT, the biggest issue is trying to find applicants let alone talented applicants.
The economic growth rate has not been sufficient to create enough employment opportunities to absorb the
increasing labour force of about 500,000 annually. Only about 25% of youth are absorbed, leaving 75% to
bear the burden of unemployment. (MOYAS, 2006: 3).
CORPORATE STAFFING SERVICES TALENT REPORT Q1 2015
71.8%
45.3%
15.5%10.5%
18.8%
34.3%
Too many applicants
Poor quality of candidates
Acceptance of job offer then
subsequent withdrawal
Unwillingness to relocate
Failure to appear for interviews
Too few applicants

8. 3.4. Choice Between Two Equally Qualified Candidates
It is a challenge for HR professionals to find and recruit people whether in a weak or strong job market.
And this varies by level, industry, requisite skills among other factors. So when employers are faced by
a situation where there are two equally qualified candidates for the same position, some hard decisions
have to be made. We asked our respondents what key top attributes they look for when forced to choose
between two equally qualified candidates.
Results of the survey show that 61.6% of the employers assess the area of specialization of the
candidates to help choose between two equally qualified job applicants. This calls for candidates to
concentrate in gaining experience in their areas of specialization as employers are keen on it. 40.7%
make the choice based on the candidate’s leadership experiences; as such candidates are able to
manage themselves and teams, take responsibility and are accountable. While 34.5% look at candidates
remuneration expectations, 31.6% make the consideration based on candidates industry experience,
26% of employers consider candidates availability and the rest 8.5% make the consideration based on
the educational attainment when making a hiring discretion between two candidates.
Areaofspecialisation
Leadershipexperience
Candidatesaffordability
Industryexperience
Availability
Educationattainment
61.61%
40.7%
34.5%
31.6%
26%
8.5%
Hiring: Trends,challenges & future outlook

9. 3.5. Qualities of Fresh Graduates
The majority of the employers (64.3%) consider leadership experience and volunteering experience (60.7%)
very highly when looking to hire fresh graduates. Such graduates are found to be outspoken, team players,
flexible and take initiative; while those who volunteer already understand basic employers expectations and
office ettiquitte and behaviour. 53% consider educational attainment, 49.4% look at involvement of the fresh
graduate in extracurricular activities, and only 6% consider employing a fresh graduate on the basis of foreign
language knowledge or fluency.
Qualities Employers Look For In A Fresh Graduate
The increasing value attached to university-level education, has meant that a significant proportion of Kenyans
either have a degree or have intentions to gain one. A university degree certificate can open doors, but without
a rich learning experience underpinning the degree, it cannot translate to an employment opportunity.
CORPORATE STAFFING SERVICES TALENT REPORT Q1 2015
64.3%
60.7%
49.4%6%
53%
Leadership experience
Volunteering experience
Education attainment
Extracurricular activities
Understand a foreign language

10. 3.6. Public Universities that Employers Prefer Hiring Fresh Graduates From
Our poll sought to establish the private and public universities preferred by employers when hiring fresh
graduates. Of the 205 employers surveyed, 15% of the respondents said they had no preference for a
particular university when recruiting graduates. Others mentioned that their preference is guided by job
specialization (e.g. Medicine -Nairobi University).
However, of the 85% of the respondents who had a preference, the poll indicate that University of
Nairobi is the most preferred university by the majority (84.2%), followed by Jomo Kenyatta University
(63.9%), Kenyatta University (57%) and Moi University (45.6%) Egerton University (19.6%), Maseno
University (6.3%) and Masinde Muliro University (3.8%).
The Figure below illustrates the public universities preferred for recruiting of fresh graduates by HR
managers in Kenya.
Kenya Medical Training Colleges
Technical Universities/ Colleges
Nairobi University
Moi University
Multimedia University
Maasai Mara University
Masinde Muliro University
Maseno University
Kenyatta University
JKUAT
Egerton University
7%
23.4%
84.2%
45.6%
1.3%
0.6%
3.8%
6.3%
57%
63.9%
19.6%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
With the rising number of universities in Kenya and the low quality associated with graduates, it is no
wonder that employers have preferences on the universities they recruit fresh graduates from. According
to the Inter University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), only half of the more than 50,000 students who
graduate annually are suitable for employment.
Hiring: Trends,challenges & future outlook

11. CORPORATE STAFFING SERVICES TALENT REPORT Q1 2015
3.7. Reasons for Preferring Graduates From Selected Universities
The main reasons why the respondents prefer graduates from the selected public universities is technical
expertise and knowledge of industry displayed by both the staff and students from theseuniversities (24%),
the quality of learning and credibility of university (19%), the long standing and reputation of the university and
relevance of the courses offered to the employers business (11%) and the preparedness of the students for the
job market (6%).
The demand for university education in Kenya has significantly increased and continues to swell. As a result,
parents and guardians are continuously investing for their dependents to acquire these qualifications. According
to the Universities, Employability and Inclusive Development, 2014 survey report, some universities in
Sub-Saharan Africa are of the highest quality, but limited public funding hinders their success. In some cases,
lecturers lack adequate qualifications and preparation, while universities are affected by a lack of physical
resources including buildings, laboratories and libraries.
24%
19%
19%
11%
6%
11%
11%
Technical expertise & industry knowledge
Credibility of University/ College
Quality of learning/ exposure
Course relevance to employer’s business
Long standing reputation
Bright & all-rounded graduates
Well preparedness to job market

12. 3.8. Private Universities Employers Prefer Hiring Fresh Graduates From
Further, the survey sought to identify the preferred private universities by employers. Overall, Strathmore
University is the most preferred private university by 78% of the respondents. Daystar University (57%)
and Catholic University follow at (49%). Others include USIU (45%), Kenya Methodist University
(17%), Mount Kenya University (13%), University of Baraton (7%) and Africa Nazarene University
(5%).
The figure below illustrates the private universities and colleges preferred by employers for hiring fresh
graduates in Kenya.
With the rising number of private universities, the real prize is getting out of college with a valuable
degree. The most distressing stories are about students who wasted time and resources pursuing
university education that does not yield in a credible degree.
University of Baraton Kenya
Kenya Institute of Management
USIU
Presbyterian University
Africa Nazarene University
Mount Kenya University
Strathmore University
Kenya Methodist University
Daystar University
Catholic University
22%
7%
45%
78%
2%
5%
13%
17%
57%
49%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Hiring: Trends,challenges & future outlook

13. 3.9. Reasons for preferring graduates from selected private universities
Some of the reasons for preferring candidates from the above selected private universities as outlined by the
respondents are illustrated in the figure below.
The main reasons why the graduates from these universities are preferred is the reputation of the university
(25%); in terms of specialization, years of existence and society involvement e.g Strathmore and business
incubation and mentorship.
Credibile certificates given by these universities (22%), relevant skills impacted on the graduates (15%),
development of the graduates holistically as well as academically (14%), while at (9 %) is technical expertise
and knowldege of the industry, and exposure to the job market through industrial attachment.
CORPORATE STAFFING SERVICES TALENT REPORT Q1 2015
25%
22%
15%
14%
5%
9%
9%
University/ College reputation
Technical expertise & broad knowledge
Certification credibility
Holistic development beyond academics
High discipline level and responsibility
Job market exposure ( Industrial attachment)
Relevant job market skills

14. Managing organisational changes
Employee engagement
Cutting down on cost-per-hire
Providing upward mobility
Maintaining productivity levels
Worker burn-out
Providing competitive compensation
Recruiting high skill applicants
Lifting employee morale
Retaining top talent
16.9%
43.5%
11.3%
50.3%
25.4%
26.6%
12.4%
24.9%
37.3%
54.2%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
3.10. Staffing Challenges Faced by Organisations in the Past Year
With the ever-growing number of competitors in the marketplace, talent is the only differentiator. Capital
is abundant while technology is easy to access, but brainpower of knowledge and experienced staff
becomes the major asset for the modern progressive organizations. It is therefore, alarming when more
than half; 54.2% of the respondents mention that their biggest challenge is retaining top talent. Talent
retention increasingly determines the success or failure of many organizations.
Further, 50.3% and 43.5% of the employers mentioned providing competitive compensation and
managing organisational changes respectively. 37.3% face employee morale challenges, 24.9%
experience challenges in recruiting high skilled applicants, 26.6% mentioned maintaining productivity
levels, 25.4% mentioned providing upward mobility for their employees, 12.4% mentioned worker
burnout, 16.9% mentioned employee engagement and 11.3% indicated that they experienced the
challenge of cutting down on cost per hire.
Employers incur huge costs when replacing a talented employee. Soft opportunity costs include: lost
customers, contracts or businesses and in most cases replacing outstanding talents will costs two to five
times their annual salary. When employees are overworked, neglected, and demoralized, they become
pessimistic about the organization’s future.
Hiring: Trends,challenges & future outlook

15. Some of the reasons for preferring candidates from the
above selected private universities as outlined by the
Staff levels are expected to remain relatively stable
according to the employers surveyed. Only a small
proportion of employers anticipate staff layoff in the next
quarter.
The top most challenges faced by employers when
recruiting is receiving of too many job applications, poor
quality of candidates, unwillingness of candidates to
relocate and too few applicants especially in the technical
jobs.
Candidates’ area of specialization and leadership
experience, academic attainment, availability and
affordability are the key variables assessed when
deciding between two equally qualified candidates.
Leadership and volunteering experience and involvement
in extracurricular activities are the highest attributes
employers are looking for in fresh graduates.
Employers in Kenya most prefer hiring fresh graduates
from the Nairobi University, Jomo Kenyatta University and
Kenyatta University from the public universities. The main
reasons include: the technical expertise and broad
knowldege of industry displayed by both the staff and
students from these universities, the quality of learning
and credibility of university, the long standing and
reputation of the university and relevance of the courses
offered to the employers business and the preparedness
of the students to the job market.
Private universities preferred by employers include
Strathmore University, Daystar University and the
Catholic University. The main reasons why the graduates
from these universities are preferred is the reputation of
the university, credibile certificates given by these
universities, relevant skills impacted on the graduates,
development of graduates holistically as well as
academically, exposure to the job market through
industrial attachments, technical expertise and knowldege
of the industry and exposure to the job market through
industrial attachment.
Employers top most challenge faced is retaining top
talent. This is followed closely by providing competitive
compensation and managing organisational changes,
lifting employee morale, recruiting high skilled applicants
and maintaining productivity levels.
Manufacturing, construction and transport sectors
promise more job opportunities in the next quarter due to
continued reduction of fuel prices that translate to
cheaper cost of production and distribution of goods.
CORPORATE STAFFING SERVICES TALENT REPORT Q1 2015
4. Conclusion

16. 5. Recommendations
• University students should focus on gaining speciliased work experience and job knowledge as
possible. Internships and volunteering are good ways that a student can gain this most sought
for work experience.
• Universities should work towards enhancing credibility of their certifications. This is possible
through offering quality course work, having proper infrastructure, qualified lecturers and market
driven courses, so as to produce quality graduates and gain employers trust
• Job seekers should search for jobs that develop their skills in their areas of specialization,
as well as acquire leadership skills as majority of employers are keen on area of training
and leadership and industry experience.
• University graduates need to acquire leadership skills, volunteer experience and participate in
extra-curricular activities before getting into the job market. They need to be all-rounded; team
players, have people skills, self initiative among other soft skills.
• Employers must learn that their success depends on keeping their best-talented employees.They
must recognise the importance of retention. This means paying market rate and where possible
have other incentive programs/ benefits such as medical, pension and training, as well as rewarding
performance and improving on employee relations i.e involving them in decision making.
• There is need to automate the hiring process due to the high number of applicants that cost
companies more time and money. Use of ATS (Applicant Tracking systems) that scores candidates
• Employers need to invest in training to bring employees skills to required levels and put in place a
succession plan of talented employees as the cost of replacing outstanding talent is two to five times
their annual salaries.
Hiring: Trends,challenges & future outlook

17. It doesn’t matter
how slow you go
as long as you
keep moving.
CORPORATE STAFFING SERVICES TALENT REPORT Q1 2015

18. Perminus Wainaina
Managing Director,
Corporate Staffing Services Ltd.,
3rd Floor, Nabui House,
Westlands Road, Westlands, Nairobi.
Email: pwainaina@corporatestaffing.co.ke