In the coming weeks, IPO-bound Ola Electric is planning to lay off around 400–500 employees, as per a report by the Economic Times. Before the company's IPO, founder Bhavish Aggarwal is reportedly focusing more intently on cutting operating expenses.
With the Ola Electric leadership team still finalising the scale of layoffs, the number might change, according to the report. The employees who will be impacted by the layoffs might be replaced with new hires at a relatively cheaper cost.
As per a source speaking to the Economic Times, “Inside, they (the Ola Electric team) are finalizing the list across different teams. Three-four teams have already finalised the numbers, but the cuts would be across the organization." Aggarwal has been reportedly trying to consistently reduce costs across all avenues.
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However, speaking about the layoffs, the spokesperson of Ola Electric told the Economic Times that they do not know about the layoff numbers that are being speculated by the sources.
When the company filed its draft IPO papers, it said that as of October 2023, it had 3,733 employees. According to the draft filings, the company’s staff attrition rate was 47.48 percent in FY23.
A new offering of Rs 5,500 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of Rs 1,750 crore will make up the IPO. The company is yet to get approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI for the same.
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Speaking to the Economic Times, a source said, “The focus across the group is to get to profitability as both units—cabs and electric vehicles—are in various stages of going public.”
In a restructuring exercise in April this year, Ola Cabs laid off 200 of its employees. During the same time, Ola Cabs chief executive Hemant Bakshi resigned from the company just three months after he took charge.
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