Tech in Africa
Engineering-as-a-service provider Andela, has laid off 135 staff members across 5 different countries of operation. Jeremy Johnson, company CEO communicated the development to its 1300 staff members spread out across 7 countries via zoom. He attributed the radical change to the COVID-19 pandemic that has significantly impacted several of the company’s clients, necessitating the move.
The startup is looking at a decline in customers in the foreseeable future given the unpredictable economic climate affecting every sector of the global economy. He defended the “cost-cutting measures” to ” make it to the other side.”
The layoff is about 10 percent of its workforce and will affect all locations except Egypt and Kenya. The leavers will receive a generous severance package accompanied by 4 months of health coverage. In September last year, over 420 junior developers were laid off, heavily impacting on those stationed in Uganda, Nigeria, and Kenya. The need for restructuring then was to align its talent pool to global demand.
The company has since shifted its operations from a talent accelerator into a talent outsourcing firm. In a blog post, Jeremy revealed plans of adding 700 workers by end-of-year. Many are eager to see whether the company will achieve its target by end-year given it had to repeat the layoff cycle for the third time in a short span of nine months. Part of the announcement includes a trim in CEO salaries by 10 to 30 percent as it tries to save US$5 million from the layoffs.
