Bengaluru-based EV major Ola Electric Mobility Ltd has carried out layoffs, letting go of around 1,000 employees, citing “restructuring” and “automation” as reasons.
The company has eliminated “redundant roles”, an Ola spokesperson confirmed to DH on Monday.
“We have restructured and automated our front-end operations delivering improved margins, reduced cost, and enhanced customer experience while eliminating redundant roles for better productivity,” the spokesperson said.
These layoffs began in December and have now been completed, sources said. This was around the same time Ola Electric underwent a large expansion, opening 4,000 new stores across India.
The layoffs comprised both employees and contract workers spanning multiple departments, including procurement, fulfillment, customer relations, charging infrastructure, in addition to front-end sales, service and warehouse staff at Ola’s showrooms and service centers, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Ola Electric’s shares declined by about 5 per cent during the day, hitting a new all-time low. The stock closed 3 per cent down at Rs 55.12 a share. The company’s public listing was in August.
This also marks Ola’s second round of mass layoffs. Last November, the company had cut around 500 jobs. Ola also saw a series of top-level exits in 2024, the latest being in December.
In the third quarter of the current fiscal (ended December 31, 2024), Ola saw a drop in revenue to Rs 1,069 crore, from Rs 1,336 crore in the same quarter in 2023. The company reported a 50 per cent widening of losses for Q3.