Startups’ pink slip count falls to 10,000 amid funding blues

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

startups have laid off about 10,000 employees so far in 2024 with funding across stages continuing to be constrained, while companies hire talent cautiously with a focus on improving bottom lines early on in their lifecycle.

The first half of 2024 has been better than the last six months of 2023, when around 15,000 workers were laid off, and the first half of 2023, when 21,000 lost their jobs, according to data from Longhouse Consulting.

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Even with the slowdown in layoffs, startups are still not out of the woods, senior human resources professionals and other industry executives told ET. Over the past six months, venture-funded firms like Swiggy, Ola, Cultfit, Licious, PristynCare and Byju’s have all fired employees in a bid to cut costs.

Some of the largest consumer internet firms like Flipkart and Paytm have also reduced employees. ET reported earlier this year that Flipkart was cutting 5-7% of its workforce, amounting to 1,100-1,500 employees, while Paytm has been consistently firing staff as part of restructuring, having cut 1,000 workers at least.

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Swiggy fired at least 400 employees while IPO-bound Ola Electric is in the final stages of laying off over 600 after sister company Ola Cabs fired around 200 workers in late April.

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