Mediamax Networks, the parent company of K24 TV and People Daily newspaper, will lay off an unspecified number of employees over the next couple of weeks or months. This comes against the backdrop of a challenging media landscape in Kenya, as legacy media companies grapple with dwindling ad revenue against an aggressive online media presence and content creators that have taken a substantial chunk of ad opportunities.
According to a memo seen by TechBooth, the affected employees will receive a severance package according to Kenyan labour laws.
The layoffs follow a similar trend in Kenya over the last five years; in August 2024, Standard Media Group laid off over 300 employees—the biggest in recent memory —in a move that signalled a struggling media business in the country. A few months earlier, Nation Media Group had laid off 16 employees, a fifth of such a redundancy since 2020.
Kenyans have been consuming news items from online platforms, including blogs and reputable social media platforms on X, TikTok, and Facebook. Online media platforms have also been aggressive in the media space, some of which have grown so large to eclipse traditional media companies.
