From Netflix To Cars24: List Of Companies That Have Laid Off Employees In 2022

Despite the market volatility and ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, companies in India¡¯s startup ecosystem have managed to mop up over $10 billion in funds during the first three months of 2022, as per a report in ET.

But amidst funding galore, and IPOs rolling out one after another, there¡¯s perhaps one flip side to all of this.

It's the rising concern and instances of layoffs. Many companies have laid off employees for some reason or the other, whether it's cost-cutting, ¡®performance-linked layoffs¡¯, restructuring purposes or something else entirely - there have been many layoffs in the corporate sector so far this year.

So let us have a look at some of the companies that have laid off employees till now in 2022.

1.Netflix

variety.com

American subscription streaming service and production company Netflix had announced a couple of days back that it is laying off around 150 employees across the company.

The affected positions in Netflix represent less than 2% of the streamer¡¯s 11,000 staffers, with most of the cuts happening in the U.S., as per the CNBC report.

¡°As we explained on earnings, our slowing revenue growth means we are also having to slow our cost growth as a company. So sadly, we are letting around 150 employees go today, mostly US-based. These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance, which makes them especially tough as none of us want to say goodbye to such great colleagues. We¡¯re working hard to support them through this very difficult transition¡±, a representative from the company told CNBC.

These layoffs come less than a month after Netflix reported a loss of 2 lakh subscribers and nearly a quarter of its value. Shares of the company are nearly 70% down since January 2022.

2.Lido Learning

Mumbai-based edtech startup, Lido Learning, had laid off over 150-200 employees, according to some employees told Inc42.

According to several employees, in a virtual town hall that took place in February 2022, Lido Learning¡¯s founder, Sahil Sheth, informed the team that the startup is facing financial difficulties and will not be able to pay the salaries of employees for the month of January and the first week of February.

According to a few Lido employees, the company has already asked team members to look out for job opportunities.

All this occurred despite Lido raising $10 million in September 2021.

3.Cars24

Used car marketplace Cars24 is amongst the most recent entrants in this list. Cars24 has fired more than 600 employees, as per the ET report. Layoffs were put in place across departments and roles. This figure of more than 600 employees represents over 6% of its total headcount of about 9,000 people.

As per the ET report, the company said a statement¡°This is business as usual performance-linked exits that happen every year,¡± the company said in a statement. In India, Cars24 competes with the likes of Droom, CarTrade, Spinny and CarDekho.

4.Unacademy

shutterstock

In April 2022, SoftBank-backed edtech start-up Unacademy too, caught everyone's eyeballs when it laid off around 600 employees. This figure accounts for 10% of its workforce.

The move was reported to be a possible action taken to cut costs ahead of a potential funding slowdown in the country. People laid off included company employees, contractual workers, and educators.

Also Read: Meet Ruchi Kalra & Asish Mohapatra: India's First Husband-Wife Duo To Have A Unicorn Each

5.Better.com

One firm which has laid off not only once but multiple times is the digital mortgage company Better.com.

After firing nearly 900 employees over a zoom call in December 2021 and then again laying off nearly 2,000 employees last month, Better.com conducted its third mass layoff in April 2022, citing a declining mortgage market.

Sources familiar with internal happenings at the company estimated that around 1,200 to 1,500 employees were laid off in the third round. This implies that the company has effectively reduced its headcount from about 10,000 in December to less than 5,000 now.

And that's not all. After already laying off nearly 4,000 employees in the US and India in the past six months or so, digital mortgage lender Better.com recently offered India employees the ¡®option to leave¡¯, as per an IANS report.

The company will pay severance or voluntary separation and health insurance coverage. In total, nearly 920 workers had their resignations accepted, as per the report.

6.Vedantu

Another edtech platform on the list to lay off employees is Vedantu. The unicorn had said just a couple of days back that it had fired another 424 full-time and contractual employees, or about 7% of its workforce, as the company looks to increase its capital runway, as per ET report.

It was reported earlier this month that the company had already laid off 200 contractual and full-time staff, amid careening demand for online education as schools and institutes opened in offline mode.

With the latest round of layoffs, the Bengaluru-based firm has let go 624 employees in total, over the past few weeks, as per ET.

7.Meesho

shutterstock

After riding high last year with nearly $900 million in funding and achieving the unicorn status, e-commerce startup Meesho laid off 150 employees from its grocery business in April 2022.

Meesho had recently restructured and rebranded its grocery business as ¡®Meesho Superstore¡¯ from Farmiso earlier. Last week, the company had reportedly said that it would integrate the grocery vertical into its main app, leading to talks of redundancies within the firm.

A Meesho spokesperson confirmed the layoffs to ET and said ¡° About 150 full-time employees will be impacted by the restructuring of Meesho Superstore which is aimed at bringing inefficiencies. The company is offering severance packages and outplacement assistance to help those impacted secure new opportunities outside the company.¡±

Sources close to the development also told ET that around 400 employees will be impacted by the company¡¯s downsizing move. Meesho, however, denied this and said only 150 of its staff were being asked to go.

8.Novartis India

In Feb 2022, Switzerland-based global healthcare firm Novartis¡¯s Indian arm Novartis India (NIL) signed an exclusive sales and distribution pact with Dr Reddy¡¯s Laboratories for a few of its medicines, the company had said in a regulatory filing as per ET.

The company in its filing had stated that this arrangement, however, would lead to NIL firing around 400 employees due to role surplus and redundancies.

It also said, "Novartis India preliminary estimates approximately an amount of Rs 75 crore as outgo in the current financial year towards such costs and ex-gratia compensation under its Employee Separation Scheme ("ESS").

As per the ET report, in addition to this compensation, NIL will extend outplacement services to impacted associates, the healthcare giant added.

For the latest and interesting financial content, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here.