Ola to let go of 1,000 employees; hiring aggressively for EV biz: Report

As Ola ramps up its hiring for the electric mobility biz, the urban mobility firm is in the process of firing nearly 1,000 employees, a report said

As Ola ramps up its hiring for the electric mobility business, the urban mobility firm is in the process of firing nearly 1,000 employees, The Economic Times reported on Friday quoting company insiders and recruitment agencies.

An earlier report by the newspaper had stated that the firm was laying off around 400-500 employees, while the annual appraisals for many staff were yet to be formalised. 

However, the final figure for retrenchment can now touch about 1,000, reported ET. 

Ola's restructuring exercise, which is expected to go on for a few more weeks, is taking place in a bid to shift focus towards the firm's electric mobility business. Ola is hiring “aggressively” for the electric mobility business, executives engaged in the recruitment process told ET. 

The firm has been hiring across verticals, including mobility, hyperlocal, fintech, and for its used cars businesses, the report said. 

Ola has asked employees, who are targeted for layoffs, to resign voluntarily, one company executive told ET. 

“The company is delaying the appraisal process of several employees who the company wants to fire-- so that they resign,” an employee told ET.

Ola had recently unveiled the first indigenously developed lithium-ion cell, NMC 2170. The company is investing heavily in developing core research and development (R&D) to create indigenous advanced cell technologies.

As SoftBank-backed Ola plans to manufacture lithium-ion battery cells and an electric car, it was hiring four people for every person that the firm was let go, ET reported quoting a source. 

“Ola is planning to hire about 800 people for cars alone and additionally for cell development...,” ET reported quoting a person aware of the matter. The source added, “Even as they are letting go of people, there are more people coming in. It is a repurposing process for the company rather than a cost-cutting process..."

Ola Electric on July 18 said it has signed an agreement under the Centre’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to manufacture advanced cells in India. It said it is the only Indian electric mobility company selected by the Government of India under its ambitious Rs 80,000-crore cell PLI scheme, receiving a maximum capacity of 20-gigawatt hour (GWh) for its bid in March.