CarDekho has laid off employees and slashed salaries as the automobile portal looks to tide over the disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic that has badly hit the Indian auto sector. While the company did not comment on the number of employees being laid off, reports suggest the number is as high as 200.
When contacted, Girnarsoft Group - that runs CarDekho - said COVID-19 has led to disruptions across industries and auto is one of the worst hit sectors.
"We were constrained to look at rightsizing and salary cuts in a few businesses given period of slow recovery and in some cases permanent change in pattern of consumer spends," it said in an e-mailed statement.
The company said through the month of March till recently, teams across the board took measures to control costs, including the leadership team taking voluntary salary cuts effective April.
According to the reports, salaries have been slashed by 12-15 per cent depending on the pay packages, while senior management has taken a 45 per cent salary cut.
"To help this transition, we not only cover the impacted employees financially but have also set-up an intermediary support system to guide them towards opportunities inside and outside the organization. We are also encouraging and are providing well-rounded support for entrepreneurial opportunities with the organisation. These are testing times and we hope we come out of this much stronger than before," it said.
In the past few weeks, a number of tech-led businesses like Uber, Zomato and Swiggy have announced layoffs as the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown dried up demand and ravaged businesses. Last week, Ola had said it is laying off 1,400 staff from rides, financial services and food business, while ShareChat handed pink slips to 101 employees.
According to a survey by industry body Nasscom, about 90 per cent startups said they are facing a decline in revenues, and about 30-40 per cent indicated temporarily halting their operations or in the process of closing down.
About 70 per cent startups surveyed said they have a cash runway of fewer than three months, the most affected being the early stage and mid-stage start-ups.
With businesses seeing significant impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic, startups are forced to freeze hiring, slash salaries and lay off people to steer through the crisis.
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