Thousands of Kenyan youth who depend on the Remotasks website for their livelihoods have been compelled to seek alternative options after the international remote tasks platform became inaccessible in Kenya.
On Tuesday, March 12, evening, numerous workers on the platform shared an email reportedly sent by the company, announcing its intention to cease operations in Kenya.
According to the communication, the site planned to terminate operations on March 8 this year, nearly a week ago.
"We are reaching out with an important announcement regarding Remotasks operations in your location. We are discontinuing operations in your current location effective March 8, 2024.
"As part of this change, you have been off-boarded from your current project," read the email in part.
A spot check by Kenyans.co.ke on the company's website returned a blank page with the words, "Sorry, you have been blocked. You are unable to access remotasks.com."
The development comes just weeks after President William Ruto praised a Kenyan youth for utilising the platform to make Ksh45,000 monthly pay.
The Head of State, during his visit to ICT labs in January this year, interacted with Brian Kipchumba, a university student who made northwards of Ksh300,000 per year.
"Here is my Remotasks account. I have been working online since December 26, 2023. The total amount of money I have earned is USD284 which is like Ksh45,000.
"My recent payout is USD172. That is per week," Kipchumba told the President attracting applause from Ruto and his leaders.
Remotasks Terms
My 2021 interview with one of the workers, however, painted a different picture, one that involved early mornings and late nights.
The informant, who sought anonymity, revealed that he was tasked with labelling images on highways that teach self-driving cars the kind of obstacles to avoid.
Initially, the Agribusiness graduate noted that he would make a sizeable income of about Ksh10,000 a week on a good day but was often concerned about the extreme fluctuations in income that, on a bad week, would sink as low as Ksh1,000.
“I have performed the tasks since 2019 September. The income you make varies. At first, the platform had good money but has since deteriorated. I used to spend 10 hours a day, 7 days a week working.
“I was forced into that line of work due to the high unemployment rate across the country,” stated the informant at the time.
