Flipkart to cut workforce by up to 7%

The exercise will be completed by March-April 2024

Walmart-owned ecommerce giant Flipkart is reportedly planning to trim its workforce by 5 to 7 percent, a decision that is likely to affect around 1,500 employees.

According to reports, the exercise has already been set in motion with performance reviews and will be completed by March-April 2024.

Flipkart has 22,000 employees. The count does not include those working for its fashion portal Myntra.

The ecommerce giant is reportedly also looking at an internal rejig to optimise its resources and also remain profitable.

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Annual job cuts based on performance reviews are not new and Flipkart has been doing this for the past two years.

The company has frozen hiring and has not onboarded fresh talent since the past year to cut costs, an Economic Times report said, citing sources who are privy to the development.

“This has become an annual practice now. As part of the appraisal cycle, they (Flipkart) are restructuring teams. Overall business in 2023 had its ups and downs for the ecommerce industry, including Flipkart. So, corrections are being done now,” the ET report quoted a source as saying.

Also read: Layoffs in 2023 were 58% higher than in 2022; Experts say trend to continue

Better utilisation of resources is being planned across businesses — existing and new, the report said. Both plans — for Flipkart’s restructuring and the roadmap for 2024 — would be discussed when the senior executives meet in February, the report said.

Several IT companies and startups have been resorting to layoffs after being on a hiring overdrive in 2021 as the funding winter prolongs.

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Paytm, for instance, has laid off over 1,000 employees and is looking to cut another 10-15 percent jobs. Meesho, too, has cut jobs citing business restructuring.