14 Indian startups have sacked over 2,100 employees in the first three weeks of 2023

Also Read: Indian startups laid off close to 20,000 employees in 2022 as ecosystem faces prolonged funding winter

The mass layoffs since the beginning of 2022 followed a year of aggressive hiring and high employee costs as tech salaries skyrocketed in 2021 at a time when new-age tech startups led the talent war to support their unprecedented growth with funds pouring into the Indian startup ecosystem.

Since the beginning of 2022, over 60 startups have laid off employees in large numbers citing funding crunch and restructuring while some shifted the blame onto employees’ performance, calling the layoffs standard.

Total startup layoffs since 2022

Startups that went on a hiring frenzy last year to support their growth at speed, ended up with subpar talent in excess at a time when the ecosystem turned away from spending to grow to profitability at all costs.

Also Read: Shattered Dreams, Humiliation, Fight For Survival: How laid-off startup employees are coping

Some had to make deeper cuts

Some such startups had to make tough decisions that had a bigger impact than others. Over six on the list let go of more than 1,000 employees since the beginning of 2022.

Over six among the list let go of more than 1,000 employees since the beginning of 2022

Notably, four of these companies - Lido learning, Byju’s, Unacademy, and Vedantu belong to the edtech sector or the poster boy of last year’s startup party, which indeed was the worst hit.

While Sahil Sheth-founded Lido Learning went bankrupt leaving hundreds of employees, thousands of parents, and a few of its creditors in limbo, highly-funded and valued edtech unicorns Byju’s, Vedantu, and Unacademy had to let go in large numbers in an attempt to stay afloat.