Ola Electric is preparing for significant organizational changes ahead of its initial public offering (IPO). The company plans to reduce its workforce by about 400-500 employees in the coming weeks as part of a cost-control strategy. While the exact number of affected employees is still being determined, the company’s leadership is actively assessing the scale of these layoffs across various departments. Media reports suggest that some displaced employees may be replaced with new hires at a lower cost, although the overall headcount is expected to decrease.
According to insiders cited in a report by ET, certain teams have already finalized the number of cuts. Bhavish Aggarwal, founder of Ola, has been leading efforts to streamline costs across all areas of the organization, indicating a concerted effort towards financial optimization.
Ola Electric’s draft IPO papers, filed in December 2023, indicated a workforce of 3,733 employees as of October 2023, with a notable attrition rate of 47.48 percent in FY23. This move follows a trend within the Ola ecosystem, as Ola Cabs previously laid off around 200 employees in April, alongside the departure of Hemant Bakshi, CEO, and Kartik Gupta, CFO, Ola Cabs.
Ola Cabs has been striving to improve profits for some time now. Earlier in April, the company wound up operations in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, where it had launched services in 2018. The reason for the closure of the business in these countries is that the company aimed to concentrate on making its domestic business more profitable before the initial public offering.
