Breaking News: Nairobi Company to Fire Over 1,100 People After Meta Ends Deal
In a notice issued on Thursday, April 16, the company confirmed that its long-standing partnership with Meta will come to an end at the close of April, after efforts to secure a renewal or extension proved unsuccessful. The development marks a significant shift in Kenya’s growing role in the global digital labour market.
“A notice of redundancy has been issued in compliance with Section 40 of the Employment Act 2007, with the necessary notifications to the relevant parties indicating that the redundancy process will affect 1,108 current employees,” the company stated.
According to the notice, the majority of those affected are attached to the specific workstream that has now been discontinued following Meta’s decision to terminate the contract.
The Nairobi office has for years served as a key hub for content moderation and data annotation services, employing hundreds of Kenyans tasked with reviewing sensitive online material. Workers were responsible for filtering harmful content such as hate speech, graphic violence, and misinformation, often in African languages that require local context and expertise.
Beyond moderation, the firm also played a critical role in training artificial intelligence systems through data annotation—labelling vast datasets used to refine machine-learning algorithms that power content recommendations and safety features across Meta’s platforms.
Despite the scale of the layoffs, the company said it is taking steps to cushion affected employees during the transition period.
“Our immediate priority is supporting our employees through this change and ensuring continuity across our broader operations,” the firm noted, adding that staff would receive support including medical cover, counselling services, wellness resources, and what it described as “living wages” during the notice period.
The partnership between the Nairobi-based firm and Meta had initially been framed as an “impact sourcing” initiative, aimed at creating digital employment opportunities for young people in East Africa. However, the arrangement later attracted global scrutiny over working conditions.
Reports from international media and advocacy groups highlighted concerns about low pay, high-pressure environments, and the psychological toll on moderators exposed to disturbing content daily. These concerns sparked legal battles, with former employees filing lawsuits alleging unfair treatment and blacklisting after contract transitions.
The legal disputes also led to landmark rulings, including decisions allowing Meta to be sued in Kenyan courts despite lacking a formal local office—an outcome that challenged the legal protections typically enjoyed by multinational tech firms.
Further controversy emerged following investigations suggesting that video data from Meta’s wearable technology projects, including smart glasses, was being processed in Nairobi for annotation. The revelations raised fresh questions about data privacy and the ethical implications of outsourcing sensitive digital work to developing markets.
Analysts say the latest development underscores the volatility of outsourcing-dependent employment, particularly in the tech sector where contracts can shift rapidly based on corporate strategy and regulatory pressures.
As the redundancy process begins, attention will now turn to how affected workers will be absorbed into the labour market and whether new opportunities will emerge to replace the lost jobs.
For the more than 1,100 employees facing uncertainty, the end of the Meta contract marks not just a corporate transition, but a turning point in Kenya’s evolving digital economy.
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Breaking News: Nairobi Company to Fire Over 1,100 People After Meta Ends Deal
