The CEO of the online food delivery service Swiggy, Sriharsha Majety, said that hiring too many people was an instance of “bad judgment” and that he should have done better. Swiggy laid off 380 employees as part of a “restructuring process” due to difficult macroeconomic conditions. The company’s meat marketplace will shortly be shut down, according to Majety, co-founder and CEO, in an internal email.
He expressed regret to the affected workers, said that the “very painful choice” was made after “exploring all available possibilities,” and provided an employee assistance program for those who were affected.
He claims that Swiggy will continue to deliver meat via Instamart and will continue to invest in all other new verticals. Compared to the company’s predictions, Majety added, the growth rate for food delivery has slowed. As a result, to achieve our profitability targets, we had to review our entire indirect costs. Although we had previously started taking steps to address various indirect expenses, such as infrastructure and office/facilities expenditures, etc.
Majety admitted, “Our overhiring is an instance of poor judgment, and I should’ve done better here.” He had spoken to Swiggy employees earlier in the day during a town hall meeting. According to the tenure and grade of the impacted employees, Swiggy has issued a cash payout as part of the employee support program that can last anywhere between three and six months.
Depending on which is higher, they will either receive an assured three months’ pay or a notice period plus 15 days of ex-gratia for each year of service that has been completed plus any remaining paid leave that is still owed. All impacted employees will get a minimum assured payout of three months as a result of this. This includes variable pay and 100% incentives. In the email declaring the layoffs, Majety stated that the joining bonus and retention bonus payments will not be made.
