Zee's largest amount of rationalization in OTT tech business, said MD Punit Goenka

After the merger failing with Sony, Zee has been taking steps to rationalize its workforce.

The largest amount of rationalization has been in Zee's technology part of over the top (OTT) platform business, said company's MD and CEO Punit Goenka.

The company saw employee layoffs as well as senior level exits in the last few months in the aftermath of the failed merger with Sony which was terminated by the latter earlier this year. Goenka since then has been focusing on cutting down cost and has been rationalizing workforce across verticals.

"We believe that our (OTT) platform is built to compete in the market with the best form. There can be improvements but we didn't need this level of people. We are confident that the team that remains is capable of taking the growth plans forward, Goenka said during the Q4 FY24 earnings call.

He added that the company has been implementing a series of steps since the later half of the March quarter and the results of which will reflect in the performance of FY25.

"The last few months have been intense as we took several tough decisions in the interest of the company. We have streamlined a strong team across the business. In line with the lateral structure implemented by the company we have entrusted several of our talented team members with higher levels of responsibilities to encourage more cross functional collaboration, quick decision making and ideation," the MD said.

In March, the company trimmed its Technology & Innovation Centre's (TIC) workforce by around 50 percent. A month later, the company said in a regulatory filing that in line with Goenka's overall strategic approach, he has "initiated the process of rationalization of the workforce by 15 percent, that will prune the staff strength across the company to arrive at a streamlined team that is sharply focused on the set goals for the future."

Among senior level exits, Rahul Johri, who led the revenue and monetization vertical, resigned from the in March, followed by the exit of Nitin Mittal, President, Technology and Data at Zee Entertainment in the same month.

Zee, which went through a termination process of the mega $10 billion merger with Sony Pictures Networks India after around two years of talks, had also announced that its revenue vertical will directly report to Goenka.

The board of Zee had institutionalised a structured Monthly Management Mentorship (3M) Program in March.

The objective of the 3M Program is to guide and enable the management team to achieve key performance metrics, including the targeted 20 percent EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) margin, proposed by the MD & CEO, said Zee.

The company on May 17 reported a profit of Rs 13 crore in the March quarter of FY24, after reporting a loss of Rs 196 crore in the year-ago period.

However, sequentially the March quarter of FY24 remained muted. The company had reported a profit of Rs 58.5 crore in Q3 FY24.