'I borrowed again': The quiet financial crisis following workers to the office

There is a conversation happening in quiet corners of office canteens, on late-night boda rides home, and between married couples trying to stretch a salary that evaporated by the second week of the month.

It goes like this: "I don't know where the money went."

And then, the heavier confession: "I borrowed again."

For millions of Ugandan workers, financial stress is no longer a once-in-a-while worry. It is a lifestyle, one marked by loan app notifications, rent arrears, school fee panic, and the quiet shame of watching colleagues head to lunch while you stay at your desk, pretending to be busy.

But last Thursday at ISBAT University's Job Connect Festival, a group of employers and human resource leaders gathered to say something that has rarely been spoken aloud: this is not just a personal problem. It is a workplace crisis. And it needs a lifestyle solution.

Participants at the Job Connect Festival

The proposal? Integrate financial literacy into workplace wellness programmes, not as a boring lecture, but as a core part of how employees live, spend, save, and breathe.

"If you earn sh1m, but you live your life like you earn sh2m or sh3m, where do you bridge the gap?" asked Milton Stephen Owor, Chief of People and Culture at NSSF.

His answer was uncomfortable: debt. And debt changes everything about how a person shows up, at home, in meetings, and in the mirror.

Walk through any Kampala suburb on a Sunday evening, and you will see the pressure dressed in nice clothes. Branded sneakers. A new phone. A wedding contribution for a cousin you barely know. A child's birthday party that somehow cost your entire transport budget.

Staff members of ISBAT University talking to students during the Job Connect Festival

None of these things are bad on their own. But together, they form a pattern: Ugandans spending beyond their means because the alternative, admitting you cannot afford the lifestyle, feels worse than the loan itself.

Owor warned that this cycle follows employees into the workplace. Instead of focusing on quarterly reports or customer service, their minds are calculating: How do I pay school fees by Monday? What do I tell the landlord?

"Instead of focusing on their work, they are thinking about how to pay rent, school fees and transport," he said.

And then comes the most dangerous turn. Financial distress, he argued, makes workers vulnerable to unethical behaviour.

"You become cheap to be bribed or bought because your financial situation is unstable," he said bluntly.

The Job Connect Festival is an annual career exhibition and networking event. The primary goal of the initiative is to bridge the gap between higher education and the modern corporate world by giving students direct access to potential employers, internship placements, and career development experts.

This year's event saw more than 25 companies participate in the latest engagement, with students pre-registered on a digital job portal to allow direct recruitment.

According to the university, the system has already facilitated thousands of student placements through internships and job linkages.

Dr. Paul Giju, academic Registrar at ISBAT University, said education and employment must now operate as a single ecosystem.

“Education and employment, these cannot remain separate; they have to fuse together to develop an employable and entrepreneurial ecosystem,” he said.

He added that universities must increasingly align training with industry expectations while promoting entrepreneurial thinking among graduates.

Prof. Mathew Kattampackal, the Vice Chancellor of ISBAT University

On her part, Miriam Icheru, Head of People and Culture at Prime Limited, said such forums expose students to workplace realities while helping employers identify emerging talent.

However, she warned of a widening gap between what employers are willing to pay and what graduates expect in terms of remuneration.

“Some job seekers come in expecting to earn… similar to someone who has worked for 10 or 20 years,” she noted.

She stressed that workplace culture and values such as integrity and discipline remain central to employability.

However, National Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president Stephen Kalibala said inefficiencies in recruitment continue to frustrate both employers and job seekers, despite a growing pool of graduates.

“Thousands of people leave school every single year… and the biggest issue they face is getting employment,” he observed.

He proposed digitised CV-matching systems to streamline hiring processes and reduce recruitment costs.

“This helps to digitize the process, which makes it more efficient… saving money and time for both students and employers,” he said.

Kalibala also urged students to develop skills beyond academic qualifications, including leadership, adaptability, and teamwork.

“Beyond having a piece of paper, what is your add-on?” he asked.