The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has stamped its dominance as Kenya’s largest public employer after expanding its teaching workforce by 5.2 per cent in 2024, raising the headcount to 410,700 from 390,400 in 2023.
“The Teachers Service Commission has consistently remained the largest public service employer, registering the highest growth in employment at 5.2 per cent,” the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) stated in its latest bulletin.
“Employees increased from 390,400 in 2023 to 410,700 in 2024.”
Fresh statistics from the Third Quarter Wage Bill Bulletin rank ministries and extra-budgetary bodies second with 236,700 staff, followed by counties with 226,500 workers.
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The hiring surge has lifted Kenya’s total public service workforce above one million, hitting 1.023 million in 2024. However, despite the growth, the national wage bill is projected to ease. SRC estimates that the government’s wage bill will fall from Sh153.71 billion in Q2 to Sh130.79 billion in Q3, lowering the wage-bill-to-revenue ratio from 28.02 per cent to 26.46 per cent.
County governments are also expected to see some relief, with their wage expenditure dropping from Sh63.63 billion to Sh54.66 billion, reducing the ratio from 43.34 per cent to 35.38 per cent.
SRC attributed the trend to stricter fiscal controls, noting that although the wage bill continues to rise in absolute numbers, the pace of growth has slowed, recording 4.8 per cent in FY 2022/23 and 6.37 per cent in FY 2023/24.
In the same quarter, SRC also reviewed 30 applications from public institutions seeking salary approvals worth Sh411.7 million.
By Joseph Mambili
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