More than 1,000 Kenyan workers are set to lose their jobs after data company Sama lost a major contract with tech giant Meta.

Sama has already issued redundancy notices to 1,108 employees based at its Nairobi office. The job cuts will take effect later this month and mainly affect workers who were handling the now-ended project.

In a statement released on Thursday April 16 2026 the company confirmed that Meta officially ended the contract. Sama said it tried to engage Meta in a bid to save the jobs but those efforts did not succeed.

The company noted that the layoffs are being done in line with Section 40 of the Employment Act 2007 and added that it is supporting affected staff during the transition period.

This is a big blow to Kenya’s fast-growing outsourcing and AI jobs sector which depends heavily on deals with global tech companies like Meta.

Sama has faced challenges in the country before including court cases filed by former content moderators over working conditions and mental health concerns.

In 2024, more than 140 Facebook content moderators in the country were diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being exposed to graphic and disturbing social media content, including murders, suicides, child sexual abuse, and terrorism.

The moderators, were diagnosed with PTSD, generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), and major depressive disorder (MDD) by Dr. Ian Kanyanya, head of mental health services at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi.

The diagnoses emerged as part of a lawsuit filed against Meta and Samasource Kenya, the outsourcing firm that employed the moderators to review content for Meta. Court filings alleged that the moderators were regularly exposed to horrific material such as necrophilia, bestiality, and self-harm, causing some to faint, vomit, scream, or run away from their desks.

Affected workers are expected to receive their dues and benefits as required by Kenyan labour laws.