This archive report was first published on 18 September 2019.
September 18, 2019 - Andela, a tech incubator backed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, has announced the end of its junior developer fellowship in Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria.
The program, which aimed to mentor young developers, will be terminated, leaving approximately 420 developers without a job, with 170 in Kenya.
Andela's CEO, Jeremy Johnson, attributed the decision to the growing demand for high-quality engineering talent, stating, 'As part of this shift, we have also had to make an extremely difficult decision as it relates to a number of talented junior engineers. We don’t believe we’ll be able to find meaningful work for (them) over the next year.'
Despite the layoffs, Andela has committed to supporting the transition of the affected talent through its partnership with local innovation hubs, such as Kenya's iHub, to connect impacted developers with future opportunities.
In its place, Andela plans to hire an estimated 700 senior developers by the end of 2020 to meet the demand from its partners.
The firm has also shifted its focus to its soon-to-be established Andela Learning Community, which aims to impact an estimated 30,000 learners in software engineering fundamentals.
The decision has been met with criticism from some in the developer community, who view Andela as predatory in its hiring of talent.
