May's jobs data lands like a cold splash of water on Kenya's private sector. For fifteen straight months, businesses had been hiring, a quiet sign of confidence in an economy still finding its footing. That streak ended in May, when companies began cutting staff for the first time since the run began, with most of the losses falling on temporary and contract workers.
The numbers behind the shift are hard to ignore. Stanbic Bank Kenya's Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 46.6 in May, down from 49.4 in April, sitting firmly below the 50-point mark that signals growth. New orders fell for the third month in a row, and at the fastest pace since July 2025. Output also contracted for a third consecutive month, pointing to a slowdown that is cutting across both manufacturing and services.
Christopher Legilisho, economist at Standard Bank, points to two converging pressures. Households are pulling back on spending as budgets tighten, and a week of nationwide protests by transportation sector players disrupted movement and business activity enough to make a measurable dent in orders and output. Together, those forces left companies with little room to hold staffing steady.
The timing matters because thousands of young Kenyans enter the labour market every single month. A reversal in private sector hiring, even a short one, can close doors that many job seekers were counting on. Whether May turns out to be a blip or the start of something longer is the question businesses and workers alike are watching closely right now.
Originally published by TechCabal.