Paytm Widens ESOPs Pool; Plans To Ramp Up Hiring In 2020

After conducting a performance review of its employees in FY2020, digital payments giant Paytm has decided to let go of 500 to 700 employees over the course of the next couple of months. “Every year after taking into account the performance of each employee, we usually find that 5% to 10% of our employee base is at the lower end of the bell curve. In such cases we ask the employees to look for opportunities outside Paytm,” the company’s spokesperson said.

The company has decided to retain the employees for two months on the payrolls, until they find better opportunities outside Paytm. The company claims it takes similar steps after every financial year to maintain its performance benchmarks.

Meanwhile, the company will also be rewarding high-performing employees and new hires with employee stock option plans (ESOPs) worth INR 250 Cr. Paytm started the company-wide annual performance review started in January 2020.

“Paytm has a high-performance culture and follows a transparent process to evaluate and reward employees. We always ensure to provide ample growth opportunities and engage for feedback from time to time,” said Rohit Thakur, chief human resources officer at Paytm.

The company is also looking to hire 500 people for multiple job roles including product, technology and financial service categories. Even merchant payments platform BharatPe has planned out hiring drives after the lockdowns. Besides this, the company is also looking to expand its network of merchants as it is anticipating a high peer-to-peer lending segment.

BharatPe also closed appraisal talks with its employees in March and offered a 20% hike in their salaries. “To me it’s like cycles will come and go, but can you keep your sanity and be ready to build a bigger business,” Ashneer Grover, CEO and cofounder of BharatPe, had told Business Insider.

On a sombre note, the Covid-19 crisis has triggered layoffs, salary deductions and hiring freeze in the Indian economy — both organised and unorganised sector. While the National Sample Survey (NSS) and Periodic Labour Force Surveys (PLFS) estimates that over 136 Mn non-agricultural jobs are at immediate risk. Whereas, workers without formal employment contracts, casual labourers, employees in small companies, and the self-employed will be the most vulnerable.

Even the labour ministry is keeping itself ready to track any such development in the organised industry in order to have a clearer perspective on the gravity of the issue. At a time like this when job security, no deductions and new openings are all unstable, such developments come as a relief.

Update: 18 April, 2020 | 10:00 PM

• The article has been edited for clarity.