TechCabal can now exclusively report that Gokada has laid off at least 54 members of staff. Four present and former Gokada employees who spoke to TechCabal said the email announcing the layoffs was sent on Tuesday night. A copy of the email which TechCabal saw reads, “I regret to inform you that you have been affected by the reduction in our team effective Tuesday, January 31, 2023. We will not be making any further payments in respect of this change in your status with us. However, we will ensure that your salary for the month of January is processed before the end of the day.”
Despite the first part of the email clearly stating that this was a layoff, the remainder asked staff members to “forward their resignation via PeopleHum” before the end of the day. A Gokada employee who spoke to us anonymously said that they were asked to resign so that the company could save face.
Tosin Oni, Gokada’s CEO, confirmed the layoffs but declined to say the number of people fired. He told TechCabal, “the layoffs affected people across the organization. We’re in a tough macro environment, and Nigeria has worsened economically. We’ve not been protected from that, and [these layoffs] are about trying to operate more efficiently.”
