Ola Cabs is expected to lay off 10 per cent of its total workforce as a part of a ‘restructuring exercise’, reported MoneyControl. In addition to this, the report revealed that Hemant Bakshi, CEO of Ola Cabs who joined the ride-hailing company earlier this year, has called it quits.
As per an Ola Cabs statement to MoneyControl, “Ola Cabs’ CEO Hemant Bakshi would be moving out of Ola to pursue interests and opportunities outside of the company... (Bhavesh) Aggarwal will be looking after day-to-day operations and there will be a new appointment soon.”
Bakshi had joined the company in January this year. After Bakshi, Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggrawal will be looking at the day-to-day operations of the company until a new CEO is recruited. Notably, this news comes just weeks after Ola Cabs had begun its discussions with investment banks for an IPO.
A report by CNBC revealed that the company is set to fire close to 200 employees soon to cut costs. Business Today reached out to the company for a statement on this, but the company refused to comment.
For the unversed, earlier this year, Ola had announced to shut down its ride-hailing business overseas in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Last year in January, the company had fired 200 employees from the company across different teams. When asked about the reason behind the layoffs, Ola Cabs spokesperson told Business Today, “We regularly conduct restructuring exercises to improve efficiencies, and there are roles which are now redundant. We will continue making new hires in engineering and design including senior talent in our key priority areas."
Another Indian startup, Healthify, a Bengaluru-based healthtech startup, has also laid off around 30 per cent of its workforce as part of a restructuring exercise. The move aims at achieving profitability for its India business by 2024. The layoffs, confirmed by CEO Tushar Vashist, come as the company prepares for a significant expansion into the US and other global markets.
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