Ethnic Hiring in Kenya as a Development Concern

Ethnicity is a very sensitive and emotive subject that is not publicly discussed in Kenya when it comes to economic and social issues. But ethnicity has been known to influence our way of life in many ways especially politics and social interactions. However little regard has been paid to how ethnicity influences hiring in Kenya which has left many ethnic groups marginalized when it comes to employment. This study seeks to find the logic of employers’ ethnic hiring and how they deal with ethnicity when hiring to ensure competitive hiring when under pressure from different parties and in the interest of the organization’s growth and profitability. The study undertakes a desk review of theoretical and empirical studies and policy documents. This is done by looking at Kenya’s hiring and ethnicity environment. The study found there is lack of economic logic in ethnic hiring in Kenya and it is a social attitude that lacks substantive economic backing.