Swiggy Sacks 1,100 Staffers To Cut Loss

Food delivery startup Swiggy said on Monday it would lay off 1,100 employees, or nearly 14% of its workforce, to cut costs, as the ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the deadly coronavirus outbreak has brought restaurants to a standstill and hit the demand for online food ordering.

Sriharsha Majety, co-founder and chief executive at Bengaluru-based Swiggy, sent an email to employees saying the company was “laying off 1,100 employees across grades and functions in cities and the head office over the next few days due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic on its business.”

The company, backed by South African internet giant Naspers, also said it will scale down its businesses and has already shut several of its cloud kitchens that cater to takeaway orders.

“The core food delivery business has been severely impacted and will stay impacted over the short term, but is expected to start growing again after that,” Majety said.