SoftBank-backed Ola to hand more pink slips citing restructuring

Cab aggregator Ola is in the process of cutting more jobs even as it has scaled its hiring spree across the electric mobility business, two people aware of the development told VCCircle.

According to one of the people cited above, there may be more job cuts at the SoftBank-backed platform, while adding that there is a restructuring process underway and the company is “aligning its resources to plug any gaps at the organization”. 

While the two people mentioned above did not disclose the number of employees laid off, they told VCCircle in an email interaction that Ola is focused on its mission to accelerate the electric revolution in India and scale mobility services to serve 500 million Indians. 

“With this clear focus, we have reassessed our priorities and decided to shut down our quick commerce business. Also, the Ola Cars infra, technology and capabilities will be repurposed towards growing our Ola Electric sales and service network. We’re increasing our pace of investments and growth into new areas like electric cars, cell manufacturing and financial services,” the individuals added. 

As per an Economic Times report, the SoftBank-backed company is letting go close to 1,000 employees. The retrenchment number was estimated at around 400-500, the final figure could touch about 1,000, the report said. 

Last month, Ola had shut down its used-vehicle business Ola Cars as well as Ola Dash, its quick-commerce business, at a time when rivals are pouring money into the 10–15-minute grocery delivery market. 

The company has so far shut down Ola Cafe, Food Panda, Ola Foods and Ola Dash.   

Earlier this month, VCCircle reported that Ola Electric will be investing $500 million to build a battery research and development (R&D) centre in Bengaluru.    

The company plans to kickstart operations at the unit by next month and said it will hire more than 500 engineers and PhD holders.    

Ola Electric launched its first electric vehicle in August last year but it has since received some negative press, particularly following a video circulating across social media showing an Ola Electric scooter catching fire in March. The company has been maintaining that vehicle safety has been paramount at Ola.    

Earlier in January, Ola Electric raised $200 million in a funding round from Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund, Edelweiss and others at a valuation of $5 billion. This fundraise came just months after Ola Electric snagged $200 million in a round led by Falcon Edge, SoftBank and others at a valuation of $3 billion in September last year.