Lay-off season at startups kicks in as India reopens

New Delhi: As Indian companies start reopening their campuses and the country returns to normal after two years of the pandemic, a course correction has begun across the growth-stage startup ecosystem and thousands of workers have either lost jobs or are on the verge of being sacked amid slow growth.

There have been several such incidents since February this year as startups started resizing, cutting operational costs or completely shutting shops amid market uncertainties. Social commerce platform Meesho has laid off nearly 150 employees (and may ask more to pack up and go), mostly from its grocery division superstore called Farmiso, as it reportedly plans to merge its online grocery vertical with the main app.

The company had laid off more than 200 employees in the first wave of the pandemic. Last week, edtech platform Unacademy laid off nearly 600 employees, contractual workers and educators - about 10 per cent of its 6,000-strong workforce across the group.

The company said that it ensured that those who were asked to go receive certain additional benefits and a generous severance. In March, furniture rental startup Furlenco laid off nearly 180-200 employees, mostly from the customer support roles and in the same month, another social commerce platform Trell asked nearly 300 employees to go, which is close to half of its workforce.

In a nightmare for nearly 1,000 employees, homegrown edtech startup Lido Learning which is backed by top entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala, apparently shut operations in February, forcing its workforce to seek help via social media platforms.