Indian startups are facing a reality check this year. With fresh capital infusions drying up, many much-hyped Indian start-up giants have been forced to optimise resources. Since the onset of the funding winter last year, 102 Indian startups have laid off over 27,000 employees, according to reports.

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Constantly declining funding, restructuring process and uncertain macroeconomic conditions are the primary reasons behind the ongoing mayhem in the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. The bloodbath in the job market can be analysed from the fact that edtech major Byju’s is carrying out its third round of layoffs in the last nine months. The likes of Unacademy, Oyo and Meesho have also laid off employees in recent months.

Let us take a look at the layoffs carried out by some of the prominent startups in recent months.

Byju’s

The beleaguered edtech major has laid off close to 1,000 full-time employees across departments as part of its restructuring process, reported PTI. Employees in departments such as sales, marketing, content and business development will be impacted by this round of layoffs. Byju’s had also let go of a further 2,500 employees in October 2022 and 1000 employees in February this year.

The latest round of layoffs is part of Byju’s bid to prune costs and become profitable. The fresh round of firing comes in the backdrop of mounting legal troubles for the company. Byju’s has sued its lender Redwood in New York for accelerating the repayment of a $1.2 billion Term Loan B.

Unacademy

Unacademy, another edtech unicorn, had fired 12 per cent of its workforce in March this year. Last year, the Bengaluru-based test-preparation platform had fired 350 employees in a second round of layoffs after having previously laid off 1000 contractual and full-time employees.

Meesho

This Bengaluru-based ecommerce company laid off 251 employees in May. Meesho had also fired 150 employees in April last year from its grocery business.

Dunzo

Bengaluru-based Dunzo has slashed 30 per cent of its workforce. This move will impact around 300 of its employees. Dunzo, backed by Reliance Retail, had fired around 70 employees in January as well.  

Oyo

Hospitality chain Oyo laid off 600 of its 3,700 employees in December last year.

Swiggy

Swiggy sacked 380 employees in January 2023 as a part of restructuring due to slow growth in its food delivery business.

Ola

Popular ride-hailing platform Ola had let go of around 200 employees in January this year. The layoffs happened across the electric vehicle, ride-hailing and fintech businesses.

With inputs from agencies.