Bolt, a ride-hailing platform which currently operates in more than 20 cities in Nigeria, has announced the layoff of 17 out of 70 employees currently working for them in Nigeria. The layoffs reportedly resulted from operational adjustments to foster better performance within the company. According to a report, this recent decision would affect most of the junior and mid-senior members of the operations team as well as city managers.
Commenting on the situation, Ireoluwa Obatoki, Bolt’s Regional Manager for West and North Africa said “Bolt had to terminate work contracts with 17 of its employees in Nigeria due to an initiated strategy to improve our operational processes in the country. This was certainly not an easy decision to make, and we completely understand the frustration of the affected employees.”
However, affected workers claim the company reneged on a promise that there would be no layoffs. Although an anonymous source claims there have been rumours of restructuring making rounds in the organization since last year, it was believed that it would merely involve team reshuffling, the creation of new roles and departments, and shuffling the deck chairs. The laid-off workers voiced their disappointment that the meeting, which they mistook for an announcement of new teams, was really to notify them that they were being laid off.
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17 Nigerian workers to leave Bolt
Severance packages were presumably distributed to departing workers proportionally to their cumulative years of service to the company. Employees with one year of service were given one month’s severance, those with two years of service were given two months’ severance, and those with less than one year of service were given one-half of their monthly wage as severance.
In its announcement, Bolt said it “offered the affected employees an additional three months of health insurance and three months of access to psychological support and a career coach to help them navigate the transition to new employment opportunities.” Moreover, the layoffs run counter to the company’s recent promise to expand its presence on the African continent by creating more jobs and committing to an investment plan worth $530 million.
As some of the company’s best hands are among those who were laid off, some of the affected employees have said that the layoffs were not based on performance but rather on redundancy. One of the affected workers at Bolt is mystified as to where the redundancy could be coming from.
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Moreover, it is important to note that the layoff that occurred in Nigeria is in contrast with the company’s commitment to further create employment and expand its presence in Africa. Recently, Bolt CEO Markus Villig announced the company would be investing $500 million in its operations in Africa. This funding would be targeted to expand Bolt’s presence in the region and pave the way for more than 300,000 new drivers and couriers to join the Bolt platform by 2023. Having completed 1 billion rides in Africa and anticipating a driver count of over 1 million within the next six months, Bolt is reiterating its dedication to long-term investments in local communities.