After reports floating that the ride-sharing company Ola will lay off 500 employees, the company on Monday said around 200 people will be cut as part of a restructuring exercise. Ola said about 200 jobs from its overall engineering workforce will be cut in order to minimise redundancy as a part of the SoftBank Group-backed group's restructuring exercise, news agency Reuters reported about the development.
The company stated that 10 per cent of the 2,000-strong engineer workforce has been asked to leave the organisation.
CNBC had first reported that nearly 500 employees are being laid off from the various software verticals of ANI technologies which operate as Ola Cabs.
The company dismissed the report of sacking 500 employees and clarified that it is "centralising operations and is undertaking a restructuring exercise to minimise redundancy and build a strong lateral structure that strengthens relevant roles and functions".
Present Status Of Employment In Ola
"The company currently has around 2,000 engineers and aims to increase its engineering talent pool to 5,000 over the next 18 months," said the ride-hailing company. There are around 1,100 employees in its core ride-hailing business.
The company has seen more than half a dozen senior executives quitting Ola Electric in recent months while over 30 senior executives have left the company in the past two years.
Earlier, restructuring exercises impacted employees across product, marketing, sales, supply, tech, business, and operations verticals at the company. The exercise affected nearly 500 employees that "were a result of restructuring in the Cars and Dash businesses".
The company has also shut down its used vehicle business Ola Cars, as well as its quick-commerce business, Ola Dash, as the company shifted its focus on the electric two-wheelers and car verticals.