Naivas Supermarket has been forced to abruptly cut short a recruitment process after it received over 10,000 applications in just 24 hours.
In a statement posted on its social media, the retailer explained that it was overwhelmed by the many who were competing for the opportunity.
"We expected a huge interest in the recruitment drive but the number of applications received was nothing like what we anticipated. It is for this reason that we have had to close the application process for this recruitment drive," reads an excerpt of the statement.
Due to the overwhelmingly large numbers, the retailer indicated that it had to close the round of the recruitment drive.
On Tuesday, March 30, Naivas had announced that it was seeking to recruit employees who would qualify for the position and fit in their working culture. They would, however, close the application a day later.
Their action was not taken lightly by a section of Kenyans.
"You ought to have stated in the advert that the organization reserves the right to close the application process before the deadline once a sufficient number of applications have been received," Onyango Matt stated.
"Why close and yet the notice came out just yesterday; were we supposed to apply just only for one day while the deadline was 6th," another weighed in.
Unemployment remains a hot button issue in Kenya's economy. More than one million Kenyans have lost their jobs from March 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) 2015/16 Basic Labour Force report, the number of youth who join the market annually is estimated to be 800,000.
There has been a spike in the number of Kenyans registering their own companies. The latest data from the Registrar of Companies show that business names registered between April and November 2020, rose by 58.5 percent.
