Ola Takes A U-Turn, Decides Against Firing 200 Engineers

A day after announcing it would let go of nearly 200 engineers as part of a “restructuring" exercise, Ola has decided to pause the layoff. 

Senior officials at the ride-sharing and mobility company apologised to their respective team members for the anxiety caused due to the sudden layoff plans and said there would be "no cuts", Deccan Herald reported citing people close to the matter.

Ola executives reassured their teammates that they would instead find ways to reskill them so that they could meet Ola's changing requirements, the report said.

As per the report, Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal asked the executives to apologise and calm the nerves of their teams.

During a town hall on Thursday, Ola’s senior officials told their respective teammates that they were sorry for the "stress and tension" caused due to the news. When asked about the town hall, Ola admitted its decision had made employees anxious.

Overall, the company at a group level has a workforce of around 10,000 people. It has around 2,000 engineers spread across the ride-hailing platform and Ola Electric, and it aims to increase its engineering talent pool to 5,000 over the next 18 months.