This archive report was first published on 18 September 2019.
Published on September 18, 2019, Andela, a leading software training school, has announced plans to cut 400 jobs, with 170 of them in Kenya. The company attributes this decision to shifting market demands.
According to Jeremy Johnson, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Andela, the restructuring will primarily impact junior engineers as the company focuses on boosting its senior talent. Johnson stated, “This shift in demand also means that we now have more junior talent than we are able to place. This is a challenge for the business, and for these junior engineers who want and deserve authentic work experiences that we are not able to provide.”
Approximately 250 junior engineers and staff from the firm’s Nigeria and Uganda hubs will also be laid off. Andela has assured that affected employees will receive a send-off financial package and the company will collaborate with incubation hubs in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda to help connect the affected developers with job opportunities.
Janet Maingi, Andela Kenya Country Director, emphasized, “Andela is a community as much as we are a business and, as such, our immediate priority is to provide support to those potentially affected by today’s news and the means for them to find stability.”
Interestingly, the company plans to hire an additional 700 experienced engineers by the end of next year. Andela trains and outsources software engineers and has projected Sh5 billion in revenue for 2019. The company has received over Sh18 billion in venture capital funding since its inception five years ago.
