ET reported on July 6 that the company had started handing out pink slips and that it had yet to formalise annual appraisals for many of its employees.
The retrenchment number was estimated at around 400-500 but sources said the final figure could touch about 1,000.
The entire restructuring exercise – which is expected to be on for a few weeks more – is to focus more on its electric mobility business, where it is hiring “aggressively”, according to executives engaged in the recruitment process. The process has been ongoing across verticals including mobility, hyperlocal, fintech, and its used cars businesses.
One executive told ET that those targeted for layoffs have been asked to resign voluntarily.
“The company is delaying the appraisal process of several employees who the company wants to fire– so that they resign,” an Ola employee told ET.
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A source close to the developments said Ola was hiring four people for every person that it was letting go as the Bengaluru-based company plans to manufacture lithium-ion battery cells and an electric car.
“Ola is planning to hire about 800 people for cars alone and additionally for cell development…,” said the person. “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…,” said a person in the know of the matter.
Ola did not respond to ET’s detailed queries on its restructuring plan.
ET reported on June 25 that Ola was shutting down its quick commerce business Ola Dash and used car sales business Ola Cars, signalling an end to its super app ambitions.
ET also reported on February 28 that Ola was unlikely to achieve its super app ambitions due to multiple roadblocks, including funding and technological challenges.
The company said on July 18 that it was investing about
$500 million in the upcoming cell battery cell research and development facility in Bengaluru, which would start functioning in August, and would employ over 500 engineers and PhD holders.
Ola Electric said on Thursday that it had signed an agreement with the Ministry of Heavy Industries to avail the government’s Rs 18,000-crore production-linked incentive scheme for making cells on its own at scale.
The company said it had developed India’s first indigenously developed lithium-ion battery cell, called 2170.
Electric plan
Ola is, however, struggling to sell its maiden vehicle – Ola S1 Pro – after a fire incident and multiple quality control problems started emerging.
ET reported on June 24 that the company was only able to sell 130-200 scooters per day.
Following the decline in sales, multiple sources have told ET that the company was focussing on improving its sales significantly by appointing some of its top executives to take over region-wise sales.
Ola co-founder and chief executive Bhavish Aggarwal is personally overseeing sales operations in South India, chief marketing officer Anshul Khandelwal is looking after the northern region, former CEO of Ola Dash, Vinay Bhopatkar, is in charge of the west, while product head Suvonil Chatterjee has taken over the eastern region.
“There is an internal competition going on across Ola,” said a company executive who did not wish to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media. “Almost all the Ola employees across electric, mobility and fintech are working on improving sales numbers.”
