ILO calls for stronger policies to tackle youth unemployment crisis
This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has called for stronger policies to help young people navigate an increasingly difficult transition from education to decent work amid rising informal employment, gender disparities, skills mismatches, and rapid technological change.
The call comes as the ILO’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026 report shows that global youth unemployment rose from 12.3 per cent in 2023 to 12.4 per cent in 2025, leaving 67 million young people unemployed.
In addition, the global rate of young people Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) also increased from 19.7 per cent to 20 per cent, representing more than 257 million young people.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, youth unemployment stood at 8.4 per cent in 2025, while the NEET rate was 21.6 per cent.
Demystifying the complexities of the report, Sara Elder, Head of the Employment Analysis and Economic Policy Unit in the ILO Employment Policies Department and author of the report, cautioned that the regional unemployment figures should not be directly interpreted as Kenya’s rate.
“Unfortunately, we do not have regular labour force statistics coming from Kenya, so it is hard to comment exactly on the situation there,” Elder reiterated in response to questions from the Kenya News Agency (KNA).
She further pointed out that country-level data based on national statistics could nevertheless be used to examine Kenya, while ILO-modeled estimates provide comparisons between Eastern Africa and other African regions.
On the high levels of informal employment among young people, Elder highlighted that the transition to formal work requires interventions covering job growth, social protection, regulatory frameworks, enterprise development, skills development, compliance, and enforcement.
“The concept of informality is complex, and so is the policy approach to addressing it,” she posited.
Equally, Elder said enterprise registration was one entry point, noting that workers in registered enterprises have greater chances of accessing basic labour protections such as social security and paid leave.
She advised that governments could simplify registration and compliance procedures, provide incentives to encourage formalisation and extend labour and social protection to previously excluded informal workers.
On the gender gap in youth NEET rates, Elder stressed that care and labour-market policies were critical.
“Reducing NEET rates among women requires a significant advancement in care policies as well as labour market policies,” she maintained, as the report shows that more than two-thirds of young people globally in NEET status in 2025 were women.
On artificial intelligence (AI), Elder urged that governments should take a proactive approach to technological transformation to protect young people from job displacement and discrimination.
“Taking a human-in-command approach to technological changes means setting limits to minimize automation that sidelines human intelligence and discrimination that may be embedded in the algorithms behind recruitment processes,” Elder elaborated.
She similarly called for lifelong learning and social protection systems, alongside policies supporting decent work and productive employment.
“The concerns raised in the report about the risks that AI poses to entry-level jobs reinforce the urgency for governments to move beyond reactive approaches and proactively plan for AI-driven labour market transformations,” Elder emphasised.
In his remarks, Jealous Chirove, Senior Employment Specialist at ILO-Pretoria, insisted that Kenya should strengthen its employment policy and revise Sessional Paper No. 4 of 2013 on National Employment Policy and Strategy to respond to digital transformation, youth employment, and climate change.
Responding to KNA questions about youth unemployment, Chirove maintained Kenya’s priority should be sustaining economic growth while ensuring that job creation benefits young jobseekers.
“This means putting in place integrated and coordinated macroeconomic/sectoral/investment policies that aim to create decent jobs in the economy,” he affirmed.
Consequently, he established that an integrated youth employment policy should link education and training with labour-market policies while reaching young people disconnected from institutions or living in remote and marginalised communities.
Chirove, on the other hand, noted that most young Kenyans continue to take up multiple informal jobs because of the limited number of formal-sector jobs offering decent wages and social protection.
“Statistics from the Kenya Bureau of Statistics show that the informal economy creates more than 84 percent of jobs in the country,” he reaffirmed.
On the rising NEET rate in Sub-Saharan Africa, Chirove mentioned that the growing youth population was increasing pressure on already limited decent employment opportunities.
“Many countries talk about, and are expecting to reap, a demographic dividend, but this will not be realised if the young people are not in productive employment and contributing to the production of goods and services,” warned Chirove.
Further, he called for investment in education, employable skills, and policies that stimulate job creation, saying young people’s energy and ideas should not be left unused or diverted into non-productive activities that could fuel social and political tensions.
On AI opportunities, Chirove observed that employment growth among young people continued in knowledge-based and technical occupations, including science, engineering, health, and information and communication technologies.
He pointed out that digital skills should be incorporated into education and training curricula but should be combined with cognitive skills such as planning and problem-solving.
Importantly, Chirove noted that Kenya’s expanding digital infrastructure and technology ecosystem could continue creating opportunities for employment and business development.
On graduate unemployment, he disclosed that the challenge was more likely to stem from inadequate modern-sector jobs than an insufficient skills base among young graduates.
Additionally, he revealed that employers faced with large volumes of applications often inflate job experience and competency requirements.
“This ‘job experience inflation’ will always work against young job entrants who have little experience to report,” Chirove reaffirmed.
He also cited possible mismatches between labour supply and demand, with universities producing graduates in fields where demand may be limited while some occupations lack adequate skilled workers.
On his part, COTU-K Secretary-General (SG) Dr. Francis Atwoli observed that the changing labour market was exposing young people to new forms of precarious work, including ride-hailing, delivery services, online freelancing, digital platforms, and outsourced work.
Responding to KNA’s concerns on labour reforms, Dr. Atwoli reported that COTU-K was advocating for the formalisation and organisation of workers in emerging and informal sectors.
“As a responsible trade union, we continue to call out all forms of technological innovation that seek to transfer business risks to young workers while denying them the rights ordinarily associated with employment,” he reassured.
Dr. Atwoli further encouraged workers to enjoy freedom of association and collective bargaining; fair and predictable remuneration; occupational safety and health protections; social security; and effective grievance mechanisms.
He also raised concern over algorithmic management, calling for transparency and human oversight where technology affects employment, wages, working time, or working conditions.
“Kenya cannot build a modern digital economy while maintaining a social protection system designed primarily around traditional permanent employment,” he posed.
On experience requirements, Dr. Atwoli described the situation facing young graduates as an “experience trap,” stating, “Indeed, such practices create what may be described as an experience trap considering young people cannot obtain employment without experience, yet they might not acquire experience because employers will not give them their first opportunity.”
As a result, the SG called for stronger school-to-work and training-to-employment frameworks, saying apprenticeships, graduate trainee programmes, internships, and structured workplace learning should become genuine pathways into decent employment rather than cheap or unpaid labour.
He also urged employers to recognise competencies gained through internships, industrial attachments, volunteering, and entrepreneurship.
Meanwhile, Dr. Atwoli announced that COTU-K’s engagement with government and international partners, particularly the ILO, was anchored in tripartism and social dialogue.
He said youth employment policies should ultimately be judged not only by the number of jobs created but also by their quality, security, and sustainability.
By Lilian Gichohi and Michael Omondi
Reporting originally appeared via Kenya News Agency. Read the full source for additional context.