Where to Get a Govt Job in Kenya: SRC Ranks the Biggest Employers

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has retained its position as the largest public service employer, according to a new Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) report released on Monday.
According to the report, public sector employment crossed the one million mark in 2024, as the government retained its status as a significant employer in the country. Some institutions, however, are growing much faster than others.
The total number of public service employees reached 1.023 million in 2024, marking a 3.1 per cent increase from the previous year, SRC noted.
TSC, being the largest public service employer, saw the highest employment growth among public bodies at 5.2 per cent, with its workforce rising from 390,400 in 2023 to 410,700 in 2024.
Coming in second place areministries and extra-budgetary institutions, which increased their workforce from 233,600 to 236,700 during the same period, constituting a 1.3 per cent rise.
This sector particularly covers a wide range of government departments, offering roles in administration, policy, finance, and ICT, among others.
County governments are also major employers in the country, with employment in counties growing by 2.3 per cent. Under the devolved system, employment in counties is expected to add over 5,000 new workers between 2023 and 2024.
Notably, counties now employ 226,500 people, making thislevel of government another major source of job opportunitiesfor Kenyans, especially in sectors like health, agriculture and urban planning.
Other public entities, including parastatals and state corporations, recorded relatively slower but steady growth, with employment in parastatals rising by 1.2 per cent from 98,900 to 100,100, while state corporations saw a similar increase from 48,600 to 49,200 employees.
Elsewhere, wage employment in the country in both public and private sectors grew by 2.4 per cent from 3.1 million workers in 2023 to 3.2 million in 2024. Of this total, 2.2 million people are in the private sector, while in the public sector, there are just over one million employees.
While the overall wage bill continued to grow, it is doing so at moderate rates, at 4.8 per cent in the 2022/2023 financial year to 6.27 per cent in the 2023/2024 financial year.
As far as fiscal responsibility is concerned, SRC reviewed 30 requests in Q1 of the current financial year, with cost implications totalling Ksh411.7 million. Of this, Ksh281.4 million  (68.4 per cent) was approved.