Kenyan Banks Sack Over 700 Clerical Employees Amid Shift to AI

• The Central Bank of Kenya revealed that local banks reduced their clerical personnel by 5.5% in the year ending December 2024
• The banking regulator revealed the total number of staff employed by financial institutions during the review period
• Allan Lwala, a cyber and information security consultant, told TUKO.co.ke that the world is currently in an automation revolution

TUKO.co.ke journalist Japhet Ruto has over eight years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting, offering deep insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.

The rising use of artificial intelligence (AI), which has automated numerous jobs that were previously performed by humans, has led Kenyan banks to reduce their clerical personnel by 5.5% in the year ending December 2024.

Clerical positions were the only category to have a reduction, the second consecutive one, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), even though lenders increased their workforces overall throughout the year.

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During the review period, bank employees increased by 907 (2.4%), from 37,933 in 2023 to 38,840.

However, clerical workers, who formerly made up the majority of banking staff, decreased by 713, from 12,882 to 12,169.

What should job seekers do?

Allan Lwala, a cyber and information security consultant, told TUKO.co.ke that the world is currently in an automation revolution.

He explained that the automation revolution means machines and AI are doing tasks that people used to do.

He clarified that while some jobs are lost, AI also creates new opportunities in the country's technological sector.

"We are now in the automation revolution. Just like in the previous revolutions, people cried foul. Farmers lost their jobs to tractors and combine harvesters. Now, even a fleet of combine harvesters is manned by a single person in a control room. Upskill. Learn to work with or alongside AI. AI is also bringing in new jobs; thus, people will need to adapt. So, as much as people are losing their jobs, others are getting new jobs," Lwala expounded.

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How many Kenyan banks adopted AI?

This occurs at a time when 50% of banks report using AI technologies in their operations, a move that many claim has resulted in personnel rationalisation and resource optimisation.

"Management, supervisory, secretarial and other staff cadres increased by 938, 368, and 314, respectively. Large group banks had the largest increase in the total number of staff,” CBK stated in its latest Bank Supervision Annual Report.

Banks' clerical staff numbers decreased by 1.0% in 2023, reversing a 0.7% decrease in previous years. The biggest decline was 3.3% in 2022.

Which other organisations fired employees?

Thousands of Kenyans have lost jobs in the past six months, mostly as a result of global geopolitical events, high interest rates, and inflation.

According to a recent Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) report, President William Ruto's administration has imposed high taxes that have hurt payrolls and the demand for wages generally, causing businesses to close.

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After operating for more than a decade, Base Titanium quit the Kenyan market, firing 1,600 employees.

The other firms that sent home workers were CIC, which sacked 75 employees, Unga Group, which let go of 50 workers, and Twiga Food, which sent home 250 workers.

Proofreading by Jackson Otukho, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.

Source: TUKO.co.ke