Swiggy lays off 380 employees in a worrisome move for Indian startups

As fears of a global recession mount, startup winter continues in India, with Swiggy announcing the latest round of layoffs. The delivery app has announced layoffs of nearly 3% of its 6,000-strong workforce. As part of that, 380 employees are being laid off.

The decision was announced on January 20 by Swiggy founder and CEO Sriharsha Majetti.

Here’s what Swiggy said:
We are implementing a very difficult decision to reduce the size of our team as part of a restructuring exercise. In the process, we will be saying goodbye to 380 talented Swixters.
– Sriharsha Mejty in an email to staff

Why is Swiggy laying off employees?
Our hiring was a bad judgement, I should have done better here.
– Swiggy

Swiggy also said it was closing its meat market, which it said had not achieved product-market fit despite its estimates. But they will continue to offer meat delivery through Instamart.
The layoffs come as the company prepares to turn a profit before going for an IPO.

What will be available to affected employees?

The affected employees have been assured a minimum 3-month severance package, medical insurance till May 31, 2023 and office laptops to look for work.
A severance package of 6 months may be granted based on the tenure and grade of the employee.
Background: Swiggy raised $700 million in its last funding round in January 2022 and is valued at $10.7 billion.

From Byjuice, Ola, Anacademy and Meesho in India to Microsoft, Salesforce and Amazon globally, layoffs are hanging over many heads as the e-commerce contagion-fueled bubble bursts.
According to Moneycontrol, 1,000 people will be laid off by Indian startups in 2023 and at least 20,000 from 2022.