The government on Sunday extended the window for Kenyans applying for the Qatari jobs to Monday, October 28 even as Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua revealed an 80 per cent failure rate had been recorded for technical jobs throughout the exercise.
Speaking during a tour of the interview process at Kabete National Polytechnic in Nairobi, the Cabinet Secretary revealed that the window has been extended to allow recruiters cast a wider net and find the right kind of talent with the required technical skills that employers in Qatar want.
”Technical training is critical,” the CS emphasized. “Plumbers, masons, electricians—these are fields with significant demand, but only high-quality training will prepare our youth for success.” Mutua stated while revealing that nearly 80 percent of candidates applying for technical jobs were unable to meet the requirements.
”Initially set to conclude today, the interviews have been extended to Monday to accommodate additional applicants for technical roles. This decision reflects the high demand and need for workers in fields such as plumbing, masonry, and electrical work—skills ,’’ the Ministry of Labour said in a statement.
According to the Ministry of Labour, many job seekers who turned up for the interviews were poorly rated.
Technical areas such as plumbing, masonry, and electrical work were some of the notable areas that most of the youth who turned up failed to prove their technical skills on, even as the government looked to help them land the opportunities in Qatar following the signing of a bilateral agreement.
This happens even as the government has been keen on setting up and encouraging thousands of youths to pursue technical courses at the tertiary levels of schooling.
The government was initially forced to change the interview venue for the jobs after initially settling on the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). At the moment, only interviews for nursing opportunities are being conducted there.
According to the Ministry of Labour, nearly 20,000 Kenyans turned up for the interviews despite the fact that only 3,000 positions were available to be filled.
However, Mutua announced that the agreement would see an additional 5,000 opportunities announced in the coming weeks.
He added that the process would be graft-free as the government was working on a mechanism to see the process of hiring spread to other parts of the country, to equally benefit those from other regions.
“We are committed to pushing for more job openings internationally and exploring ways to decentralize the hiring process to make it accessible across Kenya.”
