A new report by BrighterMonday Kenya has revealed that up to 65% of hard skills listed for the most common jobs in the country can now be automated by AI. The findings, released today at the 2025 HR Smart Lab event, show a rapidly widening skills gap.
This tech disruption collides with a daunting demographic reality: 800,000 young Kenyans enter the job market annually, joining the nearly 3 million who are already unemployed, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). While Africa is poised to become the world’s largest talent pool by 2050, the growing mismatch between available skills and employer needs threatens to leave a generation behind.
“We’re riding a massive digital wave that is redefining what it means to be employable,” said Sarah Ndegwa, Acting Managing Director at BrighterMonday Kenya. “The key question is not just about job availability, but whether our skills match the demand.”
BrighterMonday’s data, drawn from over 1.3 million candidate profiles, shows this mismatch is most acute in high-demand tech fields. A separate 2025 SAP report confirms the trend, with 86% of Kenyan businesses identifying cybersecurity as their top skills gap, followed closely by cloud computing at 79%.
BrighterMonday is urging a collaborative national effort between government, educational institutions, and the private sector to develop large-scale reskilling programs. The platform advises a dual focus:
1. AI-Resilient Skills: Nurturing human-centric abilities like strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, communication, and negotiation.
2. Digital-First Capabilities: Building technical expertise in high-demand areas such as software development, data analytics, and cybersecurity.
Hilda Kabushenga, CEO of The African Talent Company, echoed the sentiment, stating that initiatives like GenerationKazi are already working to “bridge this gap by provisioning Kenyan youth with access to the tools and skills they need to thrive.”