"We've been getting hundreds of BharatPe CVs in the last week. Over 400 at last count. This is across functions such as business, finance, and sales", a founder of a fintech told Moneycontrol, underscoring the fear and uncertainty gripping BharatPe employees, as a power struggle is underway between co-founder Ashneer Grover and the board.
It's a rapid decline in fortune for BharatPe, which made headlines last year for handing out BMW bikes and Dubai workcations to lure engineers amidst an unprecedented war for talent.
This founder is not alone. Sources say over 400 BharatPe employees have applied to other fintechs, lenders, and startups for jobs amid a governance probe investigating alleged fraud and misgovernance at one of India’s hottest startups.
Employees across functions including business, operations, and products have been applying to other companies as many are in disbelief over the murky details spilling out of the company and about its co-founder Ashneer Grover in the last few weeks. While many employees have already started joining some of these companies, many are serving their notice period. While the current headcount wasn't available, industry sources said BharatPe could have anywhere between 600-1000 employees, which means nearly half of them are looking to quit.
“The product and tech teams have started to look out. Culture is the main issue. Employees are scared of a Housing.com- like the outcome of the company and are looking to exit right away when the market will accept them at their current salary if not more,” said one of the persons directly involved in this development.
While the bigger companies have been receiving interest directly from the employees, many smaller firms have also started making proactive efforts in reaching out to the employees knowing their bargaining situation.
“The talent war is on. There are many many companies aggressively reaching out to the talent pool at BharatPe,” said another source adding that the employees are thinking that if they leave they may still land a stable job, which may get difficult a few months down the line.
However, BharatPe has rejected the report. In a response to Moneycontrol's query, the company said, "BharatPe continues to be an attractive destination for career growth. Our attrition levels are below industry standards and any reports or rumours around increasing attrition rates in recent weeks are baseless and untrue."
"The company continues to induct new talent. Our employee base has continued to grow month-on-month over the past two months. BharatPe strongly objects to unsubstantiated rumours being used to spread misinformation about the company," the statement added.
Ironically, Grover had made headlines last year when he had announced plans to expand the tech team by luring 100 young talents with the promise of BMW superbikes, Apple iPads, and Dubai-workcation.
“What value does an iPad holds when there’s no job certainty,” a senior industry executive who was evaluating some of these applicants told Moneycontrol.
“People can say whatever they want to but the employees know that once the reports of the investigation are out, the valuation of the company is expected to witness a significant markdown. There’s no point staying back even for the ESOPs,” said one of the persons quoted above.
Meanwhile, current CEO Suhail Sameer has been assuaging employees more frequently the last few weeks, mainly via email, but most employees are still in shock and are struggling to believe that their employer may be fraudulent.
Sameer has been telling employees to ignore media reports, “avoid gossip” and focus on their work, said three current employees Moneycontrol spoke to.
“It is really difficult to believe all this. It feels like even senior people in the organisation know nothing. I am wondering what the hell is happening,” one employee said, requesting anonymity.
Sameer has told all employees that if any journalist approaches them, they should direct the journalist to BharatPe’s public relations or human resources teams.
Alvarez and Marsel, along with PwC are conducting a governance review into practices at BharatPe. A&M’s preliminary report last week said the company had non-existent vendors to whom it was paying money, Grover’s wife Madhuri Jain masquerading as a hiring consultant, and a series of other dubious payments. Its full probe is ongoing.
Grover’s hurried leave of absence, which morphed into a full-fledged battle versus his investors, has also confused and worried employees. Although Sameer has been CEO for over a year, employees still saw BharatPe as Grover’s company (although he owns only 9.5% of it), and while his departure came as a relief to some, it still caused confusion.
“There is all this talk about board and governance now, but I have never even heard of a board until now. Everything went back to Ashneer. And fraud? I can’t even believe it although the evidence is mounting,” another former employee said.
