Have you ever seen a job vacancy, went through it, realized that you met all the requirements only to be locked out by the work experience clause?
Well, a number of Kenyan youths are still jobless despite having the relevant academic qualifications. This has partly been blamed on employers who have time and again insisted on considering the working experience of potential employees and in the process locking out Fresh Graduates.
Former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo has now urged employers in the public and private sectors to scrap the work experience requirement for first-time job seekers.
He yesterday said the Kenya’s population is made up of educated, vibrant and visionary youths who are ready to drive the economy to greater heights if only they are presented with job opportunities.
“Where do you expect these graduates with no experience to get experience from if you are not ready to present or create for them job opportunities? Our youths are educated and they should not be discriminated against or denied job opportunities just because they don’t have experience, after all, internships provide them the requisite skills,” he said.
Kabogo said a model should be structured that allows youths to be absorbed and at the same time does not compromise on the professional and technical requirements for various fields.
He said the high rate of unemployment among the youth is a ticking bomb, with frustrated, educated young men and women being lured in to drugs, prostitution and terrorism.