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EMPLOYMENT: Kenya and US will ink a deal likely to see a number of the country’s human resource graduates entering the American labour market, it has emerged. 

A Ministry of Public Service source revealed that the deal that is still at its formative stages is likely to be accelerated by the recent talks at the White House.

Last week, President Uhuru Kenyatta held lengthy discussions with US government officials led by President Joe Biden.

The plan by the two countries comes barely two months since the government announced it will send 20,000 nurses to the United Kingdom as it seeks to improve the welfare of its migrant workers abroad.

Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui said on September 2, 2021, the government has embarked on exporting highly skilled healthcare workers and professionals abroad.

Sharon Kisire, chair of Human Resource Management Professionals Examinations Board (HRMPEB) said despite Covid-19 pandemic dealing the world a huge socio-economic blow, Kenya still remains a source for human resources.  

She said the pandemic has not affected the country’s production of HR practitioners who are finding their way to some of the countries in South Africa and the Islands such as Comoros; Seychelles and Madagascar.

“Kenya is still a preferred source for human resource practitioners,” she told Business Hub after the certification of 740 Human Resource Professionals finalists at Mwalimu Towers which hosts the HRMPEB.

Optimise utilisation

However, it emerged that the need for strategies to be put in place to optimise utilisation for the HR practice in the country is more urgent than ever. 

Public Service CAS Beatrice Elachi (pictured) said this is key for the country’s socio-economic transformation.

“The management of human resources has evolved globally and as a country, we are continually aligning ourselves to the global trends,” she pointed out, arguing, however, that a paradigm shift in the management of human resources in Kenya – as a lower middle-income economy – is also key.

Joseph Onyango, the national chairman, Institute of Human Resource Management, said the global pandemic had greatly altered work. 

“We must now strike a delicate equilibrium between our staff, the various welfare schemes that we run and of course managing traditional stakeholder’s expectations.

In all these, we must be seen to be kind-hearted to our people. We must lead from the Heart,” he added.       – George Kebaso