Cleartrip, the online travel and hotel booking platform appears to be in the process of downsizing its head count at least in its Indian operations if you go by the reports in this matter. The company has asked about 80 to 100 of their employees to put in their papers and search for other prospects and the basic reason being cited is the declining business Cleartrip has been able to generate over the past few months, as per a report in the Economic Times. These employees are said to be from the company’s functions handling the marketing activities, like business contracting and business development and are drawn from all three locations, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Gurugram. These will be treated as layoffs and it is not clear if the travel portal paid them any severance package or not.
Interestingly, the India-based company seems to have found more success outside India than within, as its current plans may be to shift its base to West Asia and expand its offering ‘Experiences’. It is possible Cleartrip found the going tough here due to the competition in the field. Bigger rival MakeMyTrip’s merger with Ibibo and their combined might could have had its effect on Cleartrip. The only way out is to limit the expenses and cut down on the losses.
Cleartrip seems to be claiming that it has actually hired more hands by adding about a quarter of its total strength in the recent months and is forging ahead. It has not only recorded a growth of around 17% in the last full financial year as compared to the previous year, but has also seen its losses remain stagnant during the same period. If the company is doing a rejig and focusing on remunerative businesses and cutting down on staff engaged in sectors where it is not making much progress, this laying off of staff is an understandable move.