One 97 Communications, parent of
Paytm
, has reportedly laid off more than 1,000 employees at multiple units. According to a report in Economic Times, the publicly listed financial services company is looking to cut costs as it realigns its various businesses. The job cuts took place over the last few months.
The layoffs are said to affect at least 10% of the overall headcount and come on the back of Paytm withdrawing from small-ticket consumer lending and the ‘buy now pay later’ segment, following a regulatory clampdown on unsecured loans by RBI.
The 1000 job cuts are said to be steepest layoffs implemented by an Indian new-age tech company in 2023.
The bulk of the job losses are reported to be in Paytm’s lending business, which expanded in a big way over the last year or so.
Under Paytm Postpaid, Paytm disbursed loans of under Rs 50,000. But with the regulatory landscape changing, it is now pushing aggressively into wealth management and insurance broking.
Paytm’s stock hit the lower circuit, dropping 20%, on December 7, a day after the company said it will pull out from Paytm Postpaid and take a cautionary approach toward small-ticket loans going forward.
What Paytm said on job cuts
Responding to an emailed query from ET, a Paytm spokesperson disputed the number of fired employees. The company, however, acknowledged the layoffs, pointing out that it intends to save 10-15% of staff costs over the course of the current fiscal year. Most of the impacted roles are said to have been replaced by artificial intelligence-led automation.
“Our core business of payment may see manpower increase by 15,000 in the coming year,” the spokesperson said. “We are transforming our operations with AI-powered automation, eliminating repetitive tasks and roles to drive efficiency across growth and costs, resulting in a slight reduction in our workforce within operations and marketing.”
“Eventually, by the end of the fiscal year, the company intends to achieve the targeted 10-15% reduction in employee costs,” another person said.
These have impacted employees across payments, lending and executives in operations and sales, according to the people cited above.
English (US) ·