Exclusive: Ola Lays Off 200 Employees Across Verticals In Restructuring Exercise

Ola has laid off around 200 employees from its tech and product teams as part of a restructuring exercise, with engineering roles being impacted the most, sources told Inc42.

The laid off employees are from Ola Cabs, Ola Electric, and Ola Financial Services verticals, the sources added. 

The company has offered severance packages as per their respective notice periods, they said, adding that the layoffs began earlier this week. 

Confirming the development, a Ola spokesperson told Inc42 in a statement, “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.”

It must be noted that late last year Ola rescinded its plans to terminate 200 engineering roles. However, a source said that the latest layoff exercise is exactly the same as the one which was supposed to take place last year.

The latest development comes a day after reports said that Ola is likely to shut down its recently acquired Avail Finance App and integrate it with Ola Money.

Ola, which started as a cab aggregator, is making entry into the premium EV cab service category with a fleet of 10,000 cars. Earlier this month, the company said it was in the final stages of rolling out the pilot of the new category.

Ola’s new fleet will be operated by top-rated drivers, and will provide benefits like 100% ride assurance post allocation of cab, zero cancellations, and 100% cashless payments, the company said in a statement.

The latest pilot comes at a time when social media is filled with complaints from Ola customers about drivers cancelling rides and demanding cash payments.

The startup, which has of late turned its focus towards electric vehicles, plans to launch multiple electric two-wheelers, including premium motorcycles, over the next two years. It also plans to come out with its electric car in 2024.

Ola has been on a cost-cutting mode since last year. The startup, which is chasing profitability, has not only laid off thousands of employees but has also shut down cash-guzzling verticals such as infotainment service Ola Play, used-cars platform Ola Cars, and quick-commerce vertical Ola Dash.

The funding winter and macroeconomic headwinds hit the Indian startup ecosystem hard in 2022, resulting in layoffs and shutdowns. As per Inc42’s layoff tracker, Indian startups laid off over 18,000 employees last year.

The change in year has failed to change fortunes of the Indian startup ecosystem as the layoffs have continued in 2023 as well. Harappa Education, LEAD, and Moglix are among the startups whose layoffs were reported earlier this month.

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