Sama, a US and Nairobi-based data annotation firm Sama said on Thursday it will lay off more than 1,100 employees at its Nairobi office after a major client, Meta, ended a key contract, marking one of the largest job cuts in Kenya’s growing artificial intelligence outsourcing sector.
The company said it had received formal notice from Meta to terminate the engagement and had issued redundancy notices to affected staff in compliance with Kenya’s Employment Act.
“The redundancy process will affect 1,108 current employees, a significant number of whom are on the specific terminated workstream,” Sama said in a statement.
Sama added it had engaged the client in an effort to sustain the Nairobi operations, but the discussions were unsuccessful.
The layoffs come ahead of the formal conclusion of the client program later this month and underscore the vulnerability of outsourced digital work in emerging markets to shifts in demand from global technology firms.
Sama, which provides data annotation services used to train artificial intelligence and machine learning models, said it would support affected workers with counselling, medical benefits and other transition assistance.
“As is standard in our industry, client programs evolve, and we work closely with our partners to manage these transitions responsibly,” said Annepeace Alwala, Sama’s country lead and vice president for global delivery.
She added the company’s immediate priority was supporting employees through the transition while maintaining continuity in its broader operations.
Kenya has positioned itself as a hub for outsourced digital labour, including content moderation and AI training data services, attracting global firms seeking lower-cost, English-speaking talent. However, the sector has faced scrutiny over job security and working conditions tied to short-term contracts.
Sama said it remains committed to its core business of delivering data annotation and model evaluation services and maintaining standards in data security and responsible AI.