Ola Plans To Lay Off 1,000 Employees, Hires For Electric Business: Report

The process of hiring is being done across various verticals, including mobility, hyperlocal, fintech, and for its used cars businesses

Ola is investing heavily in developing core research and development to create indigenous advanced cell technologies.

Ola has planned to lay off nearly 1,000 employees, while it is in the process of hiring for the electric mobility business, quoting company insiders and recruitment agencies The Economic Times reported on Friday.

In an earlier report by ET, Ola had said that the company would lay off 400-500 employees, while the annual appraisals for many staff were yet to be formalised. The actual figure for retrenchment, however, can touch nearly 1,000, the newspaper said.

Ola, which is now focused on electric mobility business, may continue with the restructuring for a few more weeks. ET mentioned that the electric mobility firm is on hiring mode and is “aggressively” recruiting for its electric mobility business.

The process of hiring is being done across various verticals, including mobility, hyperlocal, fintech, and for its used cars businesses, ET said.

According to the report, Ola has asked employees, who are targeted for lay-offs, to resign voluntarily. “The company is delaying the appraisal process of several employees who the company wants to fire – so that they resign,” an employee told the newspaper.

Recently, SoftBank-backed Ola launched the first indigenously developed lithium-ion cell, NMC 2170. The company is investing heavily in developing core research and development (R&D) to create indigenous advanced cell technologies.

Quoting a source, ET said that the company wants to manufacture lithium-ion battery cells and an electric car. It was hiring four people for every person that the firm was let go.

The source said, “Ola is planning to hire about 800 people for cars alone and additionally for cell development,” while adding, “Even as they are letting go of people, there are more people coming in. It is a repurposing process for the company rather than a cost-cutting process.”

Earlier the newspaper had reported that Ola was shutting down its commerce business Ola Dash and used-car business Ola Cars.