Pandemic Job loss: 5 Big Layoffs Caused By Coronavirus Outbreak

The coronavirus pandemic has hit industries across the world and the consequences are now visible. Companies are either cutting salaries or opting to lay off employees.

The State Bank of India has projected that India will create at least 16 lakh (1.6 million) fewer formal jobs across government and low-paying sectors in 2020. (PTI)

New Delhi: The pandemic brought economic activities to a screeching halt as the nation went into lockdown in March. While some essential economic activities had restarted, many businesses which didn’t meet the essential category had to be halted. Despite requests by the Prime Minister for empathy towards employees, companies and in fact, many startups had to opt for layoffs or pay cuts to keep themselves from going under. Here are the top 5 layoffs due to Coronavirus outbreak: Swiggy: The food delivery app was thriving and had hired around 8000 employees by late last year, but on 18^th May 2020 it announced that they were cutting 1100 jobs to reduce costs and keep afloat. According to a report by IANS, the employees will receive at least three months of salary, irrespective of their notice period or tenure, Sriharsha Majety, Co-founder and CEO, Swiggy, told employees in a virtual town hall meeting. "For every year they have spent with us, we will be offering an extra month of ex-gratia in addition to their notice period pay, working out to between 3-8 months of salary depending on the tenure," said Majety. Zomato: Earlier Zomato announced that it is laying 13% off its workforce, as Coronavirus has brought business to a halt as well. Aside from the layoff, the company is also cutting pay to almost 50% for the higher-earning bracket. "While we continue to build a more focused Zomato, we do not foresee having enough work for all our employees. We owe all our colleagues a challenging work environment, but we won't be able to offer that to 13 percent of our workforce going forward," CEO Deepinder Goyal said in a report by the news agency. Uber: The cab-hailing app also laid off nearly 3,700 employees or about 14 percent of its workforce in zoom calls that lasted only three minutes. The cuts were mostly in customer support and recruiting teams. The company has also announced that it will be laying off around 700 employees from its India branch as the business had to stop due to the pandemic. Although, new reports state that they will resume services and new guidelines will be given to the cabdrivers to keep themselves and the riders safe. Automation Anywhere: The robotic process automation start-up based in the US laid off 10% of its workforce. The company was last valued at $6.8 billion, unfortunately, the plan for the 2020 growth didn’t go as planned due to the pandemic. Oyo: The hotel booking company laid off hundreds from its US side of the business to cut costs. The cuts were mostly in departments such as sales, business development, and HR. The hospitality is bearing the brunt of the lockdown as travel became restricted and many hotels had to remain shut due to the pandemic and business was is running at a loss.