NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 8 – The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has maintained its position as Kenya’s largest public employer.
Latest data from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) show that its workforce has risen by 5.2 percent to 410,700 in 2024, up from 390,400 the previous year.
“The Teachers Service Commission has consistently remained the largest public service employer, registering the highest growth in employment at 5.2 per cent,” SRC said in its latest bulletin.
“Employees increased from 390,400 in 2023, to 410,700 employees in 2024.”
According to the Third Quarter Wage Bill Bulletin released by SRC, ministries and extra-budgetary institutions ranked second with 236,700 employees, followed by county governments with 226,500 staff.
The expansion in staffing has seen Kenya’s public service workforce cross the one million mark in 2024, reaching 1.023 million employees.
Despite the increase in headcount, the wage bill as a share of revenue is projected to decline in the third quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year.
The national government’s wage bill is expected to fall from Sh153.71 billion in Q2 to Sh130.79 billion in Q3, lowering its wage-bill-to-revenue ratio from 28.02 percent to 26.46 percent.
For county governments, the wage bill is projected to ease from Sh63.63 billion to Sh54.66 billion, with the ratio dropping from 43.34 percent to 35.38 percent.
SRC attributed the trend to improved fiscal discipline, noting that while the wage bill continues to grow in absolute terms, the rate of growth has slowed, rising 4.8 percent in FY 2022/2023 and 6.37 percent in FY 2023/2024.
The Commission reported receiving 30 requests from public institutions during the quarter, worth Sh411.7 million.
It approved Sh281.4 million, equivalent to 68.4 percent of the proposals, with allowances and benefits dominating at 76 percent.
