Swiggy Lays Off 380 Employees To Cut Costs

“We’re implementing a very difficult decision to reduce the size of our team as a part of a restructuring exercise. In this process, we will be bidding goodbye to 380 talented Swiggsters. This has been an extremely difficult decision taken after exploring all available options,"  Majety said.

The delivery platform’s head cited macroeconomic headwinds and slowing growth in food delivery business as the reasons behind these layoffs.

“While our cash reserves allow us to be fundamentally well positioned to weather harsh circumstances, we cannot make this a crutch and must continue identifying efficiencies to secure our long-term," he said, adding, “Our overhiring is a case of poor judgement, and I should’ve done better here."

The firm also looks to shut down some verticals as a cost-reduction measure, Majety said in the e-mail.

“Effective very soon, we will be shutting down our Meat marketplace. While the team has done exceptionally well with solid inputs, we haven’t hit product market fit here despite our iterations. From a customer perspective, we will still continue to offer meat delivery through Instamart," he said.

The food delivery platform will offer the laid-off employees a minimum payout of three months or a notice period which can be extended by 15 days or more, based on their tenure in the company.

Tech firms across the board have ramped up their cost-cutting measures with layoffs being the primary step. The year 2023, which is only into its third week, has already seen over 1,500 employees being fired by Indian startups. The number was higher for US-based tech giants, including Microsoft, which laid off about 10,000 employees this week.

Lightspeed-backed Hubilo Technologies Inc, Exotel, ShareChat parent Mohalla Tech Pvt Ltd, quick commerce platform Dunzo, Lead School, UpGrad-owned Harappa Education, cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods, mobility startup Ola, e-2wheeler maker Bounce, voice automation startup Skit.ai, industrial goods marketplace Moglix, and UpScalio, a Thrasio-style venture, were the latest to lay off their employees this year.