Africa-Press – Kenya. More than 1,100 workers at Sama’s Nairobi office face redundancy after tech giant Meta Platforms, Inc. moved to terminate a major outsourcing contract.
The move has dealt a heavy blow to one of Kenya’s most prominent business process outsourcing employers.
In a formal communication to staff, Sama confirmed it had received notice from Meta one of its biggest clients ending a key engagement at its Nairobi delivery centre.
As a result, the company issued a formal notice of intended redundancy on April 16, 2026, in line with Section 40 of Kenya’s Employment Act, 2007.
Sama Country Lead and Vice President for Global Delivery, Annepeace Alwala, acknowledged the severity of the decision.
“As is standard in our industry, client programs evolve, and we work closely with our partners to manage these transitions responsibly,” she said.
The company said 1,108 employees will be affected, many of them attached directly to the now-terminated workstream.
The move is expected to send shockwaves through Kenya’s outsourcing and tech support sector, where Sama has long positioned itself as a major employer and gateway into the global AI economy.
She added that the company’s immediate focus is to support affected staff and maintain operations elsewhere.
“We recognise the significant impact on the team and the local community. We are actively working to support affected employees with care and respect.”
Sama said workers have received living wages, full benefits, wellness services, medical cover, and access to on-site counselling.
The Nairobi facility has been central to Sama’s global AI data-labeling business, providing annotation and model evaluation services used to train machine learning systems for leading international technology firms.
But the abrupt loss of the Meta contract now raises serious questions about the future of hundreds of Kenyan workers whose livelihoods depended on the partnership.
For Kenya’s growing AI outsourcing sector, the layoffs mark one of the largest redundancy announcements in recent years.
The move comes just two months after Kenya’s four largest business process outsourcing (BPO) and digital services operators formed a lobby to accelerate job creation and positioning the country as a leading outsourced business services hub.
CCI Kenya, CloudFactory Kenya, Teleperformance Kenya and Sama Kenya launched the Outsourcing Alliance of Kenya (OAK) in late February, a private-sector coalition to advocate for policy reforms, attract global investment and align skills development with international demand.
