The Chairperson of the Presidential Council of Economic Advisors, David Ndii, has urged Kenyans, particularly those in formal employment, to brace for dire implications in their jobs.
Taking to his X account on Saturday morning, Ndii warned that digitalisation, especially with the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, would wipe out up to half of the white collar jobs in Kenya.
Ndii referenced the banking sector, where he revealed that technological innovation and advancements in the sector had immensely reduced the banking workforce within a span of 10 years.
While calling on Kenyans to adapt to the fast-evolving technological landscape, the Presidential advisor said relying on formal employment in Kenya was no longer sustainable.
He noted that only 15 per cent of the total Kenyan workforce was in the formal sector, while the rest, which is 85 per cent of the workforce, was in the informal sector.
According to Ndii, in the next 15 years, by 2040, most of the formal employment in Kenya would be gig-based. These are short-term job contracts that are temporary.
"I have news for you. Payroll jobs are 15 per cent of Kenya's workforce. Digitisation and Artificial Intelligence will eat 50 per cent of those. The bank's workforce flatlined a decade ago. In 2050, 90 per cent of employment will be gig jobs," Ndii said.
However, Ndii's sentiments come amidst growing concerns about how AI job platforms are exploiting Kenyan workers by providing ghost jobs and poor or no pay for the employees.
According to a report published by Africa Uncensored, in August this year, AI companies are using mass recruitment tactics to inflate their workforce numbers without providing meaningful work or pay.
The report highlighted that the job postings are often framed as part-time freelancing roles to help shape the future of Artificial Intelligence.
According to the investigations, the companies are only interested in hiring large pools of workers to create a scenario of scalability, boosting their visibility, but with no pay for the workers, as most of the tasks are done by AI.
The investigation also revealed that the companies advertising these jobs are using digital workers as collateral to win big contracts. As of July, 2025, one of these AI companies had recorded up to 10,000 members, but many of these members, as the investigation revealed, did hardly any work.
