Flutterwave lays off 24 workers, doubles down on remittance

Flutterwave has laid off 24 staff members, representing 3 percent of its workforce, as part of a team reorganisation effort. The payment company also announced that it is doubling down on its core businesses, enterprise payments and remittance segment, Send App.

“As a result, we have rebuilt the teams to more efficiently utilise the opportunities in these markets. Consequently, we’ve made the difficult decision to support the transition of 24 Wavers accounting for about 3 percent of our workforce,” Olugbenga Agboola, founder and chief executive officer at Flutterwave said on Monday.

The affected employees will receive an average of three month’s gross salary, continue to have free access to a professional training platform for 12 months, and receive three months’ free healthcare, among other benefits.

Despite the layoffs, the company is implementing a company-wide comprehensive compensation review.

“The introduction of the new base and bonus compensation structure at Flutterwave is a strategic move to ensure that we are aligning our compensation strategy with employee needs and market trends while also building a high-performing team…,” Agboola said.

The CEO also noted that the company is hiring for key senior roles to strengthen its business. He further highlighted that Flutterwave’s SendApp is in the process of operationalising additional licenses, bringing more countries online for senders and receivers.

Flutterwave’s downsizing follows a recent trend of layoffs in the tech ecosystem, where startups are optimising their operations due to a funding downturn. Since 2020, over 1,500 workers have been laid off, and over 22 startups have either slashed their workforce or shut down completely in Nigeria, according to data from layoffs.fyi, a global website that tracks shutdowns and layoffs in the tech ecosystem. Briter Bridges, a data insight firm, disclosed that over 2,500 African tech employees were laid off in 2023.

“People often underestimate how a failing economy can spill over into different industries, and startups are not exempted,” Emmanuel Faith, an HR consultant, recently told BusinessDay.