Movers and Shakers Of The Week [23 -28 Mar]

We bring to you the latest edition of movers and shakers of the week in the Indian startup ecosystem.

Amid lockdown, while the delivery of essential services has been allowed, the supply chain is still struggling to cope with the security measures. But beyond this, the real economic impact from the coronavirus pandemic will come in the weeks and months to come.

The lockdown has restricted any movement, putting temporary shutters on several businesses which can’t rely on remote workers, the internet or cloud services. At the same time, with market uncertainty, the pressure on startups has increased to conserve cash by cutting costs.

This has raised concerns for the startup employees, who may become ones bearing the brunt of coronavirus. Murmurs in the startup ecosystem have already started hinting at imminent layoffs due to cost-cutting measures.

However, the government has advised private and public companies against salary cuts or layoffs during the pandemic. Further, at present, 70K companies have expressed readiness to deal with the coronavirus.

Movers And Shakers Of The Week

Walmart India Promotes Sameer Aggarwal

Walmart India has promoted Sameer Aggarwal as the chief executive officer of its supermarket retail chain Best Price effective April 1, 2020. He is replacing Krish Iyer, who is retiring from full-time management and will assume the role of an advisor to Best Price.

At his new role, Aggarwal will be reporting directly to executive vice president and regional CEO of Asia and global sourcing at Walmart Dirk Van den Berghe. It is worth noting that this is the third promotion for Aggarwal within two years of his appointment at the company.

He had joined Walmart India in April 2018 as the executive vice president. In that role, he was overseeing strategy and administration until promoted to the position of deputy CEO in January 2020.

Aggarwal has more than two decades of business experience. Prior to Walmart, he had held leadership roles at US-based restaurant chain Yum! Brands in Southeast Asia, UK-based retail Sainsbury’s, and McKinsey & Co. in Australia. He is an alumnus of the London Business School and is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Stay tuned for the next edition of Movers and Shakers of the week!

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