Mobility company Bolt has rescinded its decision not to lay off any member of its workforce after it recently sacked 20 of its staff members in its Nigerian operations.
Reports disclose that the layoff was communicated to the affected staff by the company’s regional manager for West and North Africa and ROW, Ire Obatoki, during an all-hands meeting of the Nigerian operations teams which was held on Monday.
Following the recent layoff, a source familiar with the incident revealed that a lot of Junior staff were negatively impacted, which came after Bolt had promised not to lay off any of its workforces, rather it stated that spending of the company would be slashed. The announcement was followed by one-on-one exit chats with the affected staff members.
Also, Bolt’s recent layoff is coming days after the company unveiled its expansion plan in Africa. It would be recalled that Investors King on the 18th of February 2023, reported that the e-hailing firm plans to expand its operation in Africa, to create thousands of opportunities for drivers on the continent.
Bolt plans to invest €500 million in Africa over the next two years, noting that the funds will be used to create opportunities for over 300,000 new drivers and couriers to join the platform in 2023, as well as the establishment of new offices.
Meanwhile, in a third round of layoffs since May last year, Bolt sacked 50 of its employees last month, which has seen its headcount shrink by more than half under a year. The first round of layoff which occurred last year, impacted about 250 of its employees, coming just months after Bolt raised $355 million at a valuation of $11 billion.
It is however interesting to note that Bolt has surpassed 1 billion rides in Africa, in just seven years, and expects the number of drivers on its platform to hit over 1 million in the next six months. Following its funding round in January 2022, which saw it raise $709 million, the company disclosed that it will be using the funds to continue expanding to new geographies and to bring more consumers and partners to its super app.