Jumia sacks 900 workers amid $49.8m loss

Jumia has sacked 900 workers in a bid to save cost, resulting in a 20 percent workforce reduction.

This information is contained in Jumia’s 2022 Fourth Quarter Financial Statements.

In the financial statement dated February 16, 2023, and obtained recently, Jumia made it known that cost reduction is a major priority in the company’s strategy going into 2023.

Some of the affected locations are Egypt, Ghana and Senegal. Jumia’s Dubai office was also shut down, relocating its staff to Africa.

Jumia revealed that its “logistics-as-a-service” business was suspended in some markets, while food delivery operations were discontinued in Egypt, Ghana and Senegal.

The company said: “In the fourth quarter of 2022, we undertook significant headcount reductions, resulting in over 900 position terminations, corresponding to a 20 percent headcount reduction.

“We have streamlined our organisational structure, creating leaner, more effective teams fully committed to the execution of our strategy.

“As part of our streamlining efforts, we have significantly reduced our presence in Dubai where certain management functions were located, reducing headcount by over 60 percent. Most of the remaining staff are being relocated to our African offices, closer to our consumers, sellers, and operations.

“We expect these headcount reductions to allow us to save over 30 percent in monthly staff costs starting from March 2023, as compared to the October 2022 staff cost baseline. The implementation of these organizational changes resulted in $3.7 million in one-off restructuring costs booked in the fourth quarter of 2022.”

The setback to Jumia’s cost structure is triggered by the $49.8 million operating loss recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.