Kenya Affected By Microsoft Layoffs As Developers In ADC Branch Get Laid Off

Global tech giant, Microsoft, had earlier said that it would lay off 10,000 employees in a move to align its cost structure with their revenue and where they see customer demand. So far, the layoffs have mostly been concentrated in Seattle, Washington, where Microsoft’s operations are based, but we are also seeing the layoffs coming to Africa.

Kenya is the first country in Africa to be affected by layoffs as Microsoft ADC (Africa Development Centre) laid off an unknown number of developers. Microsoft had opened its ADC  branch in Kenya and Nigeria in 2019 in a move it called a long-term investment and promised to spend $100 million in its first five years. The Lagos branch expanded last year with a new facility.

Microsoft had hired over 500 developers by June 2022, most of whom were poached from local tech firms. According to several LinkedIn posts from now-former employees, the global giant has laid off some developers in Kenya.

One affected employee, Kipkorir Arap Kirui, said in a LinkedIn post, “Last Monday looked like just any other Monday, after a productive meeting with my engineering colleagues, I noticed a meeting invite from my manager in my inbox. While it initially didn’t raise any red flags as we had missed our sync the previous week, as the day progressed, I began to grow increasingly anxious. Eventually, at 4:30 pm, I was informed that Microsoft had made my role redundant.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella previously said that the Microsoft layoffs would run until March and did not specify which of its over 200,000 staff would be laid off. In India, the entire engineering team of Microsoft-owned Github was laid off this week amidst claims that employees were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) following the layoffs.

In the message announcing the layoffs earlier in the year, Nadella did not mention how those affected outside the US would be compensated. His message mentioned that American employees would receive benefits including above-market severance pay, healthcare coverage for six months, and 60 days’ notice before termination. However, for those outside the U.S the message simply said that benefits would align with the employment laws in each country.

This is much like the message that Elon Musk sent to Twitter employees before laying them off; however, it remains to be seen if Twitter would compensate its former African employees. Microsoft ADC has yet to put out a statement regarding the layoffs.