Paystack Trims Workforce by Laying Off 33 Employees in Europe And UAE, to Reduce Operations Outside Africa

Nigerian payments platform Paystack has parted ways with 33 employees in Europe and UAE, as it reduces operations outside of Africa.

The company disclosed that the move was necessitated as Paystack is changing its operating model to prioritize locating team members within the markets it serves, localize costs, and get closer to customers.

Speaking on this, Paystack CEO Shola Akinlade wrote on X,

“Today was a difficult day at Paystack. We’re reducing our operations outside of Africa and will be parting ways with up to 33 employees in Europe and the UAE. In the last 3 years, our hiring philosophy was to recruit great talent regardless of location, including opening an engineering hub in Dubai.

“We’re changing our operating model to prioritize locating team members within the markets we serve, to localize costs and get closer to customers”.

He further added that the company is sparing no expense to minimize disruption to the lives of team members. This implies that affected workers were given severance packages which included 4 months’ salary, accelerating equity vesting, extending health insurance by 3 months, and more.

In other to ensure that affected workers do not remain unemployed, the CEO put out a link of a Google Form document, to enable employers to reach out to them.

The layoff at Paystack is happening exactly a year after its parent company, Stripe downsized its workforce by 14%, as part of its cost-reduction efforts. According to Stripe, it disclosed that it grew operating costs too quickly, hence the need to trim its workforce.

With a major focus on Africa, Paystack currently maintains an operational footprint in four markets which include: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. The company, characterized by its lean operation, has experienced a moderate expansion in staff strength, contributing to a series of product releases over the past three years. 

Notable developments include introducing an app for Shopify, launching a terminal device, and, most recently, adding a direct debit feature. Paystack has also developed integrations with global software and payment solutions, with notable examples being ApplePay. The company is undergoing private, beta testing in the Ivory Coast, Egypt and Rwanda as part of its strategic expansion efforts.