Samasource Impact Sourcing Inc. (Sama) has issued a redundancy notice affecting 1,108 employees at its Nairobi office following Meta’s termination of a major contract.
In a redundancy notice issued on April 16, the company said the layoffs follow an unsuccessful efforts to retain the engagement and will take effect later this month in line with Kenyan labour laws.
Sama to Lay Off 1,108 Workers in Nairobi After Meta Contract Ends
Sama said it had engaged the client in an attempt to retain the workstream, but the efforts were unsuccessful, prompting the issuance of redundancy notices in line with Section 40 of the Employment Act, 2007.
“A notice of redundancy has been issued in compliance with Section 40 of the Employment Act 2007, with the necessary notifications to the relevant parties indicating that the redundancy process will affect 1,108 current employees, a significant number of whom are on the specific terminated workstream,” the company said.
Sama Country Lead and Vice President for Global Delivery, Annepeace Alwala, has confirmed changes to some of the company’s client programmes, saying the firm is managing the transition in coordination with partners and prioritising support for affected employees.
“As is standard in our industry, client programs evolve, and we work. closely with our partners to manage these transitions responsibly. Our immediate priority is supporting our employees through this change and ensuring continuity across our broader operations.”
She said the company recognizes the impact the changes may have on employees and local communities and is actively putting support measures in place for those affected.
Sama noted that impacted workers are being supported with care and respect, and that employees across the organisation continue to receive living wages, full benefits, and access to wellness resources, medical cover, and counselling services.
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The firm described the adjustments as part of routine changes within client operations in the data services industry and said it remains focused on ensuring continuity across its broader global delivery functions.
Sama, which operates a major service delivery centre in Nairobi, provides data annotation solutions that support artificial intelligence and machine learning systems, particularly in computer vision.
The company works with global technology firms on data annotation and model evaluation services.
Also Read: Report Shows How Data Recorded by Meta’s AI Glasses Ends Up in a Kenyan Company
Private Data from Meta Smart Glasses
This comes after investigation by Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten raised serious privacy concerns about the new smart glasses developed by Meta, revealing that recordings from the devices may be reviewed by workers who can see highly personal moments from users’ lives.
The glasses, created in partnership with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica and sold as Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, are promoted as an AI assistant capable of translating languages, answering questions and helping users interpret what they see.
It wa revealed that thousands of data workers in Nairobi, Kenya, help train the AI used by the glasses with many employed by outsourcing firm Sama.
These workers review images, videos and conversations generated by the devices so the AI can better recognize objects and understand user requests.
The 1,108 layoffs at Sama really hit hard. I was reading this on the metro and thinking, wow, how tough it must be for those workers