COVID-19 Lockdown: Ola to lay off 1400 employees as revenues go down by 95% in the past two months due to pandemic

With the decline in its revenue by 95% in the past two months due to the COVID-19 lockdown, Ola announced on Wednesday that it is laying off 1400 staff.

With its business being down by 95% in the last two months due to coronavirus-induced lockdown, Ola today announced that it will have to fire 1,400 employees.

In an email to employees, Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said that the prognosis ahead for business is now “very unclear and uncertain” and he also said that the impact of this crisis is “definitely going to be long-drawn for us. The world is not going to revert to the pre-COVID era anytime soon. Social distancing, anxiety, and an abundance of caution will be the operating principles for everyone.”

“The fallout of the virus has been very tough for our industry in particular. Our revenue has come down 95 per cent over the past 2 months. Most importantly, this crisis has affected the livelihoods of millions of our drivers and their families across India and our international geographies,” he said.

The employees who are fired are from rides, financial services and food business. Aggarwal mentioned that this will be a one-time job cut exercise and will be completed by the end of this week for the India Mobility business, and by the end of next week for Ola Financial Services and Ola Food.

Aggarwal in his mail said, “No more COVID-related cuts will be done after this exercise. ”

He also said that the impacted employees will receive a minimum financial payout of 3 months of their fixed salary, irrespective of the notice period. “Employees who have spent significantly more time with us will be eligible for higher payouts depending on tenure,” he said further.

Also, all eligible ESOPs will vest forward to the closest quarter and for those who may not have completed a year, as an exception, Ola will enable pro-rated vesting for the period of time spent with the company, he added.

“All affected employees will be able to continue using their medical, life and accident insurance cover for themselves and their families up to December 31, 2020, or the start of their next job whichever is earlier, to help minimise the financial burden of health and other risks in a time like this,” Aggarwal said.

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