Hospitality major OYO is currently the second top unicorn in India after Paytm, valued at nearly $10 billion. However, things haven’t been going smooth on the job front with the company laying off thousands of employees in India and China. This comes after its major investor, the Masayoshi Son-led Softbank, has got tough on profitability.
As per reports, the company has recently sacked around 1,200 employees in India and shown the door to about 600 of its 12,000 employees in China. Following this development, OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal on Monday sent an email to employees to explain the reasons behind the mass layoffs.
The letter begins by saying, “Dear OYOpreneurs, it’s been almost two weeks since the New Year started. As we enter 2020 together, I’m writing to update you on our strategy which OYO leaders agreed upon when we came together for the 2019 Global Leadership Meet in December. We had a single-point agenda – to plan on how OYO will continue to drive its success in 2020 and beyond.”
While crediting employees for their hard work, he admitted in the letter that the pace of growth of OYO sometimes led the company to go ahead of itself and be pressure-tested at multiple levels, Ritesh says the company is taking steps to address it this year.
On the roadmap for 2020 and priorities ahead, Ritesh says the company is taking steps to optimise and strengthen its business.
As a result of this, Ritesh says many employees have been transitioned into more meaningful roles within OYO by providing mentorship and training.
Ritesh suggests that one of the implications of the new strategic objectives for 2020 is that more teams like the leadership team, will be reorganised across businesses and functions.
He says, “And this means that, unfortunately, some roles at OYO will become redundant as we further drive tech-enabled synergy, enhanced efficiency and remove duplication of effort across businesses or geographies. As a result, we are asking some of our impacted colleagues to move to a new career outside of OYO.”
While stating that it has not been an easy decision, Ritesh says that the company is doing everything it can to ensure outgoing colleagues receive as much assistance and support as possible through this transition. Ritesh adds, “Every OYOpreneur is important to OYO and ensuring their well-being both during and after their tenure is our number one priority."