The Technical University of Kenya (TUK) has announced plans to lay off at least 559 staff members due to ongoing financial constraints grappling the institution.
A report from the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education, which assessed the university’s operations for the 2024/2025 financial year, revealed that TUK’s staff population stood at 1,619 in July 2024.
In a span of seven months, the staff population at TUK has dropped to 1,452 as of February 2025 due to resignations, retirements, terminations, deaths in service, and the non-renewal of some staff contracts.
However, the management plans to reduce the staff to 893 by the year 2027/2028.
“It is important to note the University is currently facing significant financial challenges, which will influence future staffing levels and operational priorities,” read the report in part.
“The current staff population stands at 1452 as of 28th February 2025. The Management proposes rightsizing the staff to 893 by the year 2027/2028.”
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How Technical University of Kenya Will Fire Employees Yearly
TUK stated that in the Financial Year 2025/2026, the management proposes laying off 406 employees at a cost of Ksh 1,119,689,481 (Ksh 1.1B).
Meanwhile, 92 employees will be laid off in the Financial Year 2026/2027 at a cost of Ksh 287,294,223.
In the Financial Year 2027/2028, 80 employees will be laid off at a cost of Ksh 245,365,207.
This means that within the three years, from 2025/2026 to 2027/2028, the university will save Ksh2,442,991,168, which would have otherwise been used for the salaries of the employees.
The University has resolved to undertake stringent scrutiny in the process of contract renewals and only the most essential contracts meeting the needs of the University would be renewed.
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TUK Freezes Staff Promotions, Shifts to Part-Time Lecturers
The University stated that new staff recruitments and promotions for the 2024/2025 financial year have been frozen.
To address teaching shortages effectively, only part-time staff are being appointed, and certain administrative units have been reorganized to achieve significant cost savings.
“In order to address the deficit in teaching staff, the University is proposing to continue enlisting the services of part-time lecturers who will supplement teaching at the University at an affordable cost,” the report noted.
“Additionally, part-time staff do not receive several allowances entitled to full time and contractual staff.”
Consequently, the university proposed to replace 120 contract staff with part-time lecturers in the preceding years, an exercise aimed at saving Ksh 158,797,440.00 per annum.
At the same time, all contract renewals for two years have been suspended, with future renewals limited to one-year terms.
“The University has resolved to engage staff on one (1) year contracts, which do not attract gratuity payments. Currently, the University has 31 Graduate Assistants and 137 Tutorial fellows,” the report read further.
“The University will save Ksh 116,020,282.56 once all the current contracts are all renewed to one-year contracts.”
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