Myntra To Lay Off Employees Amid Restructuring

Flipkart-owned fashion ecommerce platform Myntra has started a restructuring exercise, which is set to lead to layoffs.

While media reports indicate nearly 50 employees being laid off as a result of the rejig, a Myntra spokesperson told Inc42 that some of the impacted employees might get placed within the Flipkart Group as the reshuffle is still going on. As a result, the number is expected to be less than 50.

“In our endeavour to cater to the ever-evolving needs of our customers, new developments, and technology innovations, we recalibrate our business priorities and review our organisational structure from time to time. As part of this business-as-usual recalibration, wherever a small number of roles may be impacted, we offer our employees an opportunity to alternate positions, where available, within the organisation as well as Group companies,” a Myntra spokesperson confirmed the development.

While the impacted roles will be across verticals, staff in the in-house brands vertical would be most affected. The changes are part of a new strategy at Myntra, which intends to focus on a few private labels instead of scaling its in-house brands in the apparel space.

According to an ET report, several employees have been briefed on the matter, and an announcement might come today (July 26) as part of a planned town hall.

Some of the brands in focus include Roadster, HRX, and Mast and Harbour, among the highest-volume brands in terms of sales in Myntra’s kitty. Over the past few years, Myntra has launched more than 20 so-called ‘master brands’.

It is worth noting that the upcoming layoffs at Myntra occurred three months after the departure of Manohar Kamath from the fashion ecommerce company.

Under pressure from competitors such as AJIO, Nykaa, and Tata CLiQ, Myntra has been trying to find a niche in India’s saturated fashion ecommerce market. The Flipkart-owned platform launched FWD, a GenZ-focussed fashion experience portal in May.

Myntra aims to attract 10 Mn GenZ users and expand its customer base over the next two years. As of 2022, Myntra already has a customer base of 8.6 Mn GenZ users. Additionally, Myntra plans to increase the number of styles available on FWD to over 100,000 by the end of the year.

Similarly, in June, it launched a short video platform, ‘Myntra Minis’, to enhance user engagement and further improve the shopping experience for its customers.

Myntra has joined an ever-growing list of startups to have fired employees over the past 18 months. According to Inc42’s ‘Indian Startup Layoff Tracker’, 100+ startups have fired 28,000+ employees since February 2022.

Update | July 26, 2023, 11:15 AM

We have updated the story to add additional information shared by Myntra post the publication of the story.