Andela, a Pan-African software engineering talent startup, has just announced that it has laid off 135 staff across the four countries it operates in including Uganda and Nigeria. Rwanda and Ghana have been spared in the layoff which will be effective from Friday, May 8th. Also, engineers will not be affected by the layoffs.
This marks the third set of layoffs to have occurred within nine months. The second round was reported by TechMoran in late February which was reportedly initiated via a voluntary exit program’ for developers in Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria.
Most companies globally have been hard hit with the COVID-19 pandemic. Airbnb is among the latest companies that have reported layoffs of 1900 employees. While others have slashed salaries due to the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Andela CEO Jeremy Johnson in a conference call made the announcement to more than 1300 staff in seven countries. The decision was reached because the majority of the customers have been impacted by the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The startup is projecting a decline in customers and an increase in churn going forward.
“While our customer base has held up better than most, the majority have still been impacted by the economic downturn. Expectations for slow growth necessitate cost-cutting measures to ensure that we make it to the other side,” he said.
Additionally, Andela’s directors will have their salaries slashed by 10% to 30% as the company hopes to save about $5 million from the layoffs and in the long run, reduce its expenses of almost $25 million on software, travel, compensations among others.
The company has also shifted its business focus from being a talent accelerator to a full-on talent outsourcing firm.
“We will hire another 700 experienced engineers by the end of 2020. In order to keep up with demand from our partners,” added Jeremy in a blog post.