Food delivery company Swiggy said on Monday that it will lay off 1,100 employees over the next few days in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak which has had a severe impact on business. The decision by Swiggy came a day after its closest competitor Zomato announced that it will lay off 13 per cent of its workforce.

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"Today is one of the saddest days for Swiggy as we have to go through an unfortunate downsizing exercise," Swiggy co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety wrote in an email to the company's employees on May 18, according to the company's blog. He also said the company had already begun shutting down its kitchen facilities temporarily or permanently since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

“As we came closer to chalking out the final details of that exercise, Covid hit us with another huge blow of uncertainty, forcing us to look even harder at our cost base and preparedness for the road ahead. While Covid might have long-term tailwinds for the delivery business and digital commerce when things settle eventually, nobody knows how long the uncertainty will last. We therefore need to be prepared to see through this winter, to emerge stronger on the other side,” the company wrote in its blog. 

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It added that all the employees will continue to get financial and career-transition support from the company. Swiggy said that all impacted employees will receive at least 3 months of salary irrespective of their notice period or tenure. For every year spent with the company, they will be offered an extra month of ex-gratia in addition to their notice period pay, working out to between 3-8 months of salary depending on the tenure.

“If someone’s notice period is 3 months and they’ve spent 5 years with us, they will get 8 months of salary,” the company explained. 

It said that many members joined Swiggy believing in the growth potential of the company and even preferred ESOP to cash at the time of joining. 

“While our standard ESOP policy has a 1-year cliff and annual vesting, we will now be extending ESOP vesting to the nearest quarter (including the months of notice period) and waive off the 1-year cliff for those who have not completed 1 year,” it said.