TC Web Desk
More than 10,500 employees have been laid off by 24 Indian start-ups this year, say media reports. The layoffs come as companies struggle to raise funds and are looking for ways to reduce cash burn amid funding winter.
While start-ups like Meesho, Cars24, Ola and Blinkit have fired their employees in masses, the worst-hit during the current period remain the Indian edtech unicorns such as Unacademy, Ola, Vedantu, Eruditus, CARS24 and Blinkit.
The firing comes after a year of aggressive hiring by these ventures and high employee costs as tech salaries skyrocketed in 2021. Start-ups led the tech hiring and talent war in a year that saw immense investor interest and multiple rounds of fundraises by these companies.
Reports quoting various industry sources say that the layoffs are generally being done in roles such as sales and marketing, while roles like engineering and product have remained typically insulated.
On June 18, SoftBank-backed Unacademy laid off another 150 employees, after letting go of around 600 employees or 10 percent of its workforce earlier this year.
On June 19, Gurugram-based social commerce start-up CityMall, in a LinkedIn post, announced firing 191 employees. The venture citied “restructuring of roles to align to a change in its business model and current funding environment” as reasons.
The three-year-old start-up had raised $75 million earlier in March and is backed by investors such as Accel, Norwest Venture Partners, Elevation Capital and General Catalyst.
CityMall is not alone in downsizing its staff in 2022. Since the beginning of the year, over 25 startups have laid off employees in large numbers citing funding crunch, restructuring, and so on. Some even put the blame on employees’ performance calling the layoffs standard.
