Machakos Youth to Benefit from Technology-Driven Employment Partnership
Transforming Machakos: Work Opportunities
Should Be Radically Visible — and Local Talent
Effortlessly Findable
In Machakos, talent isn’t a future promise. It is everywhere. Right now.
It is in the young designer building brands from their bedroom; the hospitality professional ready
for their next shift. The artist, electrician, mechanic, caregiver, photographer, sales
representative, website developer, and event worker looking for a fair chance to earn.
NTV Video
The numbers reveal an extraordinary story. Machakos County is home to one of Kenya’s most
educated and ambitious populations (over 60% of its 1.5 million residents are under the age of
35), anchored by institutions like Machakos University, regional TVETs, and specialized
technical colleges. Every year, young professionals enter the market with real, operational skills.
They are coding, designing, managing hospitality, building, fixing, serving, and actively looking
for a fair chance to earn. But talent alone is not enough if opportunity cannot see it***.
The Bottleneck: Why Local Hiring Gets Stuck
At the same time, across Machakos County and surrounding commercial hubs, growing
organizations and households are constantly hunting for trustworthy, capable people to execute.
The demand is right there, but finding vetted, reliable talent on short notice has historically been
an uphill battle.
For these local enterprises, hiring has traditionally relied on direct, word-of-mouth referrals.
While informal recommendations feel comfortable on the surface, relying strictly on personal
networks and word of mouth creates a silent growth bottleneck.
● Zero Agility: Sudden project spikes demand immediate hires (including on gig basis),
but personal circles move too slowly to fill urgent gaps.
● Great Useful Talent is Overlooked: Relying on personal introductions locks out
thousands of qualified, hardworking locals who simply lack the right connection. ● Unverified Risk: Word-of-mouth offers no objective verification. An informal nod is not
the same as a verified work history or skill record, turning every new hire into a high-risk
experiment.
Powered by On-the-Ground Leadership: Eric Muli &
Humanity Afrique. A Local Effort with Local Roots.
Deploying jobtech that truly works requires more than code: it requires local conviction, proven
leadership, and authentic community trust. This has only been made possible through our
partnership with Eric Muli and Humanity Afrique.
Eric brings a long, proven track record of building platforms that drive financial inclusion and
scale youth employment. This rollout grew directly out of his conviction that Machakos should
lead the way in technology-driven job creation: providing the spark, local mandate, and strategic
momentum to bring this ecosystem to life.
Complementing this vision is Humanity Afrique, a distinguished Kenyan community
development NGO with over 25 years of grassroots impact in Machakos County. Guided by a
vision of a Kenya where opportunity is not a privilege but a promise accessible to every Kenyan,
Humanity Afrique works hand-in-hand with local communities: empowering youth, strengthening
families, and driving sustainable, inclusive growth. It is this same conviction that opportunity
should be effortlessly accessible to all that makes Humanity Afrique a natural partner in bringing
Joby to Machakos.
Together, we are aligning our combined resources directly with the Machakos County
Integrated Development Plan (CIDP 2023–2027) to turn local economic potential into
real-world jobs.
What Does This Partnership Look Like on the Ground?
Local enterprises will have instant access to verified local talent across every tier of work:
● Full-Time Positions: Enterprises building out their permanent teams can now discover,
interview, and hire pre-vetted Machakos talent with confidence, filling long-term
vacancies without the typical weeks of delay. ● On-Demand & Gig Work: Companies and households can flexibly source talent for a
specific project, a busy weekend, a part-time schedule, or a short-term contract. Need a
designer for a three-day campaign? Caterers for a weekend event? A technician for a
two-week installation?
By giving business owners the freedom to hire for both permanent roles and short-term gigs,
they can solve immediate operational bottlenecks, focus on expanding their core enterprise, and
scale capacity as demand grows. In turn, every time a local business hires—whether filling a
full-time role or a weekend shift—a local resident secures income, builds a verified work record,
and contributes directly to Machakos’ economic growth.
Technology Grounded in Local Reality: High Tech, Zero
Friction
1. Inclusive Onboarding (On the Ground): Through the Eric Muli Secretariat and
Humanity Afrique’s physical footprint, we shall have activation hubs across the county.
This ensures that even young people without smartphones or reliable internet access
can be verified and onboarded onto the Joby platform. No one gets left behind.
2. Frictionless Delivery via WhatsApp: Employers don’t need to navigate complex
software dashboards to find talent. Vetted shortlists of pre-screened, verified workers are
delivered automatically straight to WhatsApp—the primary communication tool local
business owners already use every day.
Under the hood, Joby’s matching engine handles the verification, background checks, and skill
tracking. On the surface, the business owner simply receives a trusted recommendation on their
phone, ready to deploy. High technology, zero friction.
This Is Just the Beginning
This is not just about helping someone get a job today or an organization getting the talent it
needs. It is about helping them build a record of work that can be carried into tomorrow: more
income, better opportunities, greater confidence, and a stronger economic future.
As we start by solving visibility, removing referral bottlenecks, and eliminating hiring friction in
Machakos, we are proving that local economies grow exponentially when trust is built into the
hiring workflow.
To Machakos youth: your skills are visible now.
To Machakos employers: your talent pool is unlimited. Let’s get to work.
National Press Coverage
(links)
Joby powers how talent and work meet across Kenya. We have already facilitated 7,000+
gigs and jobs to 800+ organizations and 100s of households, connecting verified
professionals with corporate teams, local businesses, and private employers alike –
particularly in the hospitality, creative and marketing industries.
This Machakos initiative is an expansion of this infrastructure into hyper-local
communities—ensuring that the same trust, speed, and visibility powering national hiring
is now accessible.
