The demographic profiles of countries like Kenya, where a high percentage of people are young, would suggest that it’s swiftly renewing its workforce with fresh talent.

But this doesn’t seem to be the case.

We conducted a study in a public sector organisation three years ago. We found that the bureau had an ageing workforce. More than half of its staff were 50 years old and above. The majority of employees were aged between 51 and 60. This suggests that, in general, Kenya’s civil service is skewed to older people.

The problem hasn’t been helped by the fact that Kenya changed the retirement age from 55 to 60 years in 2009.

Our analysis focused on the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. The study presents a microcosm of the wider Kenyan public sector environment.

Our study broke new ground because it explored diversity in the workplace from the perspective of age rather than gender and ethnicity as has been the case with prior studies.

The main focus of our study was to look at the recruitment and retention strategies at the bureau.

We concluded from our findings that the bureau faced a serious demographic challenge in the makeup of its workforce and that the problem could be addressed by developing a strategic workforce plan for employees. This included having a clear understanding of recruitment, progression and retention processes that are all inclusive – taking into consideration demographics such as age, gender and to some extent ethnicity.

Read more @The Conversation