Kenya is a lower-middle-income country with well-organised industrial relations, but structural challenges affect the labour market. Economic growth has been robust, along with increasing wages. However, a majority of the workforce operates in the informal economy (83%), which is shaded by non-compliance of labour regulations (including wages).

An increase in living cost has eroded incomes’ purchasing power and projections on the progress of employment by middle-class has been sluggish reaching 20% in 2020. As at 16 June 2020, 320 local employment agencies were licensed to recruit workers for placement abroad. It is not known how many unlicensed agencies are still functioning, but it is estimated that more than 1 000 members of the local criminal network were operating before the 2014 ban.