Cellulant will lay off 20 percent of its employees as it focuses on becoming a product-led company. This announcement comes at a time when companies across the globe, especially tech-based ones, have been having a hard time running their operations thanks to a struggling economy, inflation, and, in the Kenyan case, a tanking shilling against the dollar. Investor confidence has also dwindled, meaning that startups are having a rough time raising funds.
Cellulant hasn’t said how many employees will be affected. However, it operates in 19 markets, and since the cuts will affect this base, then it is a safe bet to assume that a significant number of workers will be let go. Cellulant also says these employees wouldn’t leave the company without exit packages. It has prepared severance for them, which includes health care for their family members.
The company, founded two decades ago, says it has merged some departments and created new ones. Details about this development have not been revealed. However, no key department has been scrapped.
“We remain cognizant of the ever-dynamic operating environment, influenced by many factors not limited to technological changes, consumer needs and market dynamics,” said Akshay Grover, Chief Executive Officer. “We’re therefore pursuing a leaner product-led strategy to support our scale and increase customer base. We also aim to drive operational efficiency measures to support our growth and operations in multiple geographies.”
Last week, Twiga announced a second round of layoffs that affected a third of its permanent employees, translating to under 300 employees. Twiga, which basically connects farmers to the market, has been having a rough year, having changed its business model such as scarping its internal sales team for agents on contract.
