Sad Christmas: Paytm To Layoff 1,000 Employees; Who All Are At Risk?

It is a sad Christmas for Paytm employees. In response to ongoing financial challenges, Paytm, an Indian multinational financial technology company, has laid off around 1,000 employees. 

One 97 Communications – an Indian multinational technology company and Paytm’s parent company – has decided to fire more than 1,000 employees across various departments. It is part of Paytm’s effort to realign its various business segments and boost profitability. 

According to a report by the Economic Times, the layoff is impacting over 10 percent of Paytm’s entire workforce. Currently, Paytm is undergoing a restructuring process.

Who all are at risk?

According to knowledgeable sources and reports, the majority of the layoffs at Paytm will take place in its lending business. Employees at the lending business department are at higher risk of layoff.

The layoffs at Paytm come in the wake of recent events like discontinuing small-ticket consumer lending and discontinuing its “buy now pay later” lending segment. 

Earlier this month, Paytm pledged to reduce the scale of its BNPL offering, Paytm Postpaid. The company expressed willingness to concentrate on larger-sized personal loans and merchant loans.

Paytm hiring

Last week, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the CEO and founder of Paytm, announced plans to recruit more than 50,000 individuals in sales. He said, “We have learned and we will amplify our ability to serve India, its small merchants, and businesses. We should be crossing about 50 million merchant-bases signed up on the Paytm platform in the year.”

The tech industry has witnessed major layoffs so far this year. Big tech companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo, Meta and Zoom have laid off thousands of employees. More than 240,000 job cuts have taken place in 2023. 

Layoff tsunami affected 7,331 employees in the tech industry in October. Around 4,632 employees were laid off in September, 9,545 employees were laid off in August, 10,589 employees were laid off in July, and 10,958 employees were laid off in June.