Kenya should tap into ‘soft skills’ of retirees to create jobs

There is a huge pool of people who can contribute significantly to the quality of job creation, and that is our retirees.

Yes, people getting into retirement can do more than just ‘make space’ for younger professionals by coming to the end of their formal work life.

The over 3.5 million retirees in Kenya are an underutilised but highly valuable group that can contribute to job creation numbers and the quality of the next generation of workers.

They can be the centre of a mutually beneficial relationship in three ways: First, at the end of their active careers, retirees can transfer their wealth of skills and knowledge through apprenticeship. Just like pupilage in the field of law, apprenticeship is about understudying, or ‘learning by doing’ under the supervision of one who is more experienced.

Through apprenticeship, the retirees can offer both technical and non-technical guidance.

The technical part is related to their craft. These are skills they have honed over the years through practical knowledge and training.

The non-technical, which is equally as important, is more experiential. T

These are the insights they have earned all through their working years about relationships, working with others, balancing personal and professional and other ‘soft skills’.

Secondly, the retirees themselves benefit from guiding the apprentices. The process helps them retain and sharpen their cognitive skills, which are at risk of declining upon retirement.

Additionally, most retirees have an empty nest, meaning they have more stillness and calmness than they did when they were younger and juggling careers and other familial obligations.

Offering up their experience and knowledge to upcoming professionals provides the retirees with a meaningful sense of purpose and accomplishment.

Thirdly, retirees can help create a cadre of job creators! Entrepreneurship is one of the most challenging pursuits one can take on. Retirees can be instrumental in handholding the younger generation of entrepreneurs.

Just like in employment, entrepreneurship has a steep learning curve in emotional intelligence and character development aspects that could be managed with the right guidance. 

At AJW Africa, we match retirees with a group of TVET and university graduates that have been brought together to help Micro, Small and Medium Businesses formalise and grow.

In helping the MSMEs to increase their productivity and profitability, the graduates and retirees are creating job opportunities for others, as the MSMEs go on to hire more young people as their businesses thrive.

So what should be done? First, we need a cultural shift. We must reverse the notion that retirement is the end of the road, and start seeing it instead as the beginning of a new one.

Secondly, AJW Africa’s call to action is for retirees to register with us at info@ajwafrica.org, to be connected with apprentices and MSMEs who are in dire need of their support.

The writer is Managing Director at Apprentice Job Work Africa (AJW Africa)