Indian startups showed some signs of a recovery in 2024, but workforce reductions continued to weigh on the sector. The year saw significant layoffs — ranging between a few hundreds to a few thousands — at Ola Electric, Paytm parent One 97 Communications, Byju’s, Swiggy and Flipkart.

ET reported in August that in the first half of this year Indian startups had fired fewer employees compared to the previous year, shedding about 11,250 jobs during the period, as per data from Longhouse Consulting.

Also Read: Year in Review: These startups shut shop in 2024

Here’s a look at the startups that trimmed their workforce this year:

Ola Electric: The electric two-wheeler maker revealed in November that it had cut 300-400 jobs. A source indicated that the layoffs could increase, potentially affecting up to 500 employees, as the process remains ongoing.

ET exclusively reported on June 3 that the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company laid off around 400-500 employees.Also Read: 2024 year ender: Ola Electric’s rocky ride in 2024 — from IPO to controversies

Ola Cabs: The ride-hailing platform, a sister company of Ola Electric, laid off 200 employees, amounting to 10% of its workforce, according to a report by ET on April 29.

Flipkart: In January, ETtech reported that the Walmart-owned online ecommerce platform had laid off 1,100-1,500 employees, trimming its workforce by 5-7%. The company also halted fresh hiring over the past year to manage costs, continuing a trend of annual performance-based job cuts for the past two years.

Byju’s: The troubled edtech firm laid off approximately 500 employees from its sales and marketing teams in April. Approximately half of these were part of Byju’s Tuition Centre operations, while the rest were from its K-10 and test preparation verticals.

Also Read: About 13,500 employees from Byju’s, Paytm get on job-hunting mission

Swiggy: The food and grocery delivery platform initiated a round of layoffs in January to cut its workforce by 6%, affecting 350-400 roles across technology, call center and corporate departments.

Paytm Payments Bank: Fintech company Paytm’s banking unit cut around 20% of its 2,775-strong workforce. The payments bank had come under heavy regulatory scrutiny in January from the Reserve Bank of India, which effectively asked it to halt all its banking operations.

Also Read: Paytm lays off employees as part of restructuring, facilitates outplacement support

Unacademy: The SoftBank-backed edtech startup dismissed 250 employees in fresh layoffs across the company in July.

ShareChat: The vernacular social media firm laid off 5% of its workforce, or around 40 employees, in August.

Good Glamm Group: The content-to-commerce firm said in April it had laid off 150 employees over the preceding 15-month period as part of a new organisational revamp to streamline operations and eliminate redundancies.

Cult.fit: The fitness startup laid off 100-120 employees as part of a cost-cutting measure in January.

Indian startups showed some signs of a recovery in 2024, but workforce reductions continued to weigh on the sector. The year saw significant layoffs — ranging between a few hundreds to a few thousands — at Ola Electric, Paytm parent One 97 Communications, Byju’s, Swiggy and Flipkart.

ET reported in August that in the first half of this year Indian startups had fired fewer employees compared to the previous year, shedding about 11,250 jobs during the period, as per data from Longhouse Consulting.

Also Read: Year in Review: These startups shut shop in 2024

Here’s a look at the startups that trimmed their workforce this year:

Ola Electric: The electric two-wheeler maker revealed in November that it had cut 300-400 jobs. A source indicated that the layoffs could increase, potentially affecting up to 500 employees, as the process remains ongoing.

ET exclusively reported on June 3 that the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company laid off around 400-500 employees.Also Read: 2024 year ender: Ola Electric’s rocky ride in 2024 — from IPO to controversies

Ola Cabs: The ride-hailing platform, a sister company of Ola Electric, laid off 200 employees, amounting to 10% of its workforce, according to a report by ET on April 29.

Flipkart: In January, ETtech reported that the Walmart-owned online ecommerce platform had laid off 1,100-1,500 employees, trimming its workforce by 5-7%. The company also halted fresh hiring over the past year to manage costs, continuing a trend of annual performance-based job cuts for the past two years.

Byju’s: The troubled edtech firm laid off approximately 500 employees from its sales and marketing teams in April. Approximately half of these were part of Byju’s Tuition Centre operations, while the rest were from its K-10 and test preparation verticals.

Also Read: About 13,500 employees from Byju’s, Paytm get on job-hunting mission

Swiggy: The food and grocery delivery platform initiated a round of layoffs in January to cut its workforce by 6%, affecting 350-400 roles across technology, call center and corporate departments.

Paytm Payments Bank: Fintech company Paytm’s banking unit cut around 20% of its 2,775-strong workforce. The payments bank had come under heavy regulatory scrutiny in January from the Reserve Bank of India, which effectively asked it to halt all its banking operations.

Also Read: Paytm lays off employees as part of restructuring, facilitates outplacement support

Unacademy: The SoftBank-backed edtech startup dismissed 250 employees in fresh layoffs across the company in July.

ShareChat: The vernacular social media firm laid off 5% of its workforce, or around 40 employees, in August.

Good Glamm Group: The content-to-commerce firm said in April it had laid off 150 employees over the preceding 15-month period as part of a new organisational revamp to streamline operations and eliminate redundancies.

Cult.fit: The fitness startup laid off 100-120 employees as part of a cost-cutting measure in January.