The spate of layoffs continue for the Indian start-up sector. After edtech platform Harappa and Unacademy-owned Relevel were in news for handing out pink slips, Bengaluru-based fintech firm Cashfree laid off nearly 100 employees as a company restructuring process, Entrackr reported.
“Anywhere between 80-100 employees have been asked to go in the past few weeks. A major chunk of the impacted staff is from marketing and operations,” a person aware of the development told Entrackr.
This has been the first layoff for the company in the last few years. Multiple sources said the company terminated its staff as a cost-cutting measure to keep the business on the profitability track.
“Cashfree Payments has been periodically evaluating performances and processes as a standard business practice. The organisation has reevaluated the relevance of certain roles and functions leading to the movement of talent within teams and a few employee exits. This process of organisational restructuring has impacted around 6-8 percent of employees,” the company said in a statement.
However, it did not reveal the exact number of terminated employees.
According to an Entrackr report, the company earned Rs 227 crore in the financial year (FY) 2021. It witnessed a 23x jump in revenues and was profitable in the same financial year. However, it did not file its financial statements for FY22 till now.
The Indian tech sector reported massive hardships in the year 2022. Start-ups struggled to generate funds at a proper valuation and hence laid off employees as cost-cutting measures. Nearly 18,000 workers lost their jobs. Unicorns like Unacademy and Vedantu terminated staff. Byju’s announced its plans to rationalise employee numbers.
The new year has not produced any difference till now. Around half a dozen companies already reduced their employee numbers. The latest addition has been the cab aggregator Ola, which laid off 200 employees.