Ola to let go of 1,400 employees as revenue drops 95% in two months

Cab aggregator Ola has become the latest startup to trim its workforce, letting go of 1,400 employees or about 25% of total headcount. 

In an email to Ola staff, CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said the job cuts were linked to revenue loss due to the nationwide lockdown. 

The business was down by 95% in the last two months, he said.

“The prognosis for business is now very unclear and uncertain and the impact of this crisis is definitely going to be long-drawn for us due to the spread of coronavirus,” he added.

According to Aggarwal, this will be a one-time exercise and will be completed by the end of this week for the India mobility business, and by the end of next week for Ola foods and Ola financial services.

Read: More Covid-19 induced layoffs as Uber, Livspace cut jobs; WeWork India 'realigns team'

"No more Covid-related cuts will be done after this exercise," he assured Ola employees.

The impacted employees will receive a minimum financial payout of three months of their fixed salary, irrespective of the notice period.

“All eligible ESOPs will vest forward to the closest quarter and for those who may not have completed a year, as an exception, Ola will enable pro-rated vesting for the period of time spent with the company,” Aggarwal said.

According to media reports, ANI Technologies, which owns and operates Ola, was planning to lay off 20% of its workforce in December 2019. The restructuring exercise was expected to reduce costs ahead of filing for a public listing in the next few years.  

In November 2019, the Bengaluru-headquartered company had laid off some 350 employees of its then 4,500- strong workforce. 

Earlier this month, Ola’s major rival Uber also announced layoffs globally, eliminating 3,700 full-time jobs across divisions of customer support and recruitment.  

Other startups that have cut jobs due to Covid-19 include online food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy as well as  bike rental platforms Bounce and Vogo among others.