Over six among the list let go of more than 1,000 employees since the beginning of 2022.
After a tumultuous 2022, the rough patch for startup employees is spilling into 2023 with a number of companies, including the well-funded ones, handing pink slips as funding dries up. According to data compiled by Moneycontrol, about 14 startups in India have laid off over 2,100 employees in the first three weeks of 2023.
The number of layoffs in this period has crossed last year’s three-week average of around 1,060 sackings as more companies take up the layoff route in an attempt to stay afloat amid a stubborn funding winter.
Startup layoffs cross 2,100 in the first three weeks of 2023
Startups like Medibuddy, Swiggy, and Sharechat among others have joined the list of companies that have together laid off over 20,500 employees since 2022.
The mass layoffs since the beginning of 2022 followed a year of aggressive hiring and high employee costs as tech salaries skyrocketed in 2021 at a time when new-age tech startups led the talent war to support their unprecedented growth with funds pouring into the Indian startup ecosystem.
Since the beginning of 2022, over 60 startups have laid off employees in large numbers citing funding crunch and restructuring while some shifted the blame onto employees’ performance, calling the layoffs standard.
Total startup layoffs since 2022
Startups that went on a hiring frenzy last year to support their growth at speed, ended up with subpar talent in excess at a time when the ecosystem turned away from spending to grow to profitability at all costs.
Some had to make deeper cuts
Some such startups had to make tough decisions that had a bigger impact than others. Over six on the list let go of more than 1,000 employees since the beginning of 2022.
Over six among the list let go of more than 1,000 employees since the beginning of 2022
Notably, four of these companies - Lido learning, Byju’s, Unacademy, and Vedantu belong to the edtech sector or the poster boy of last year’s startup party, which indeed was the worst hit.
While Sahil Sheth-founded Lido Learning went bankrupt leaving hundreds of employees, thousands of parents, and a few of its creditors in limbo, highly-funded and valued edtech unicorns Byju’s, Vedantu, and Unacademy had to let go in large numbers in an attempt to stay afloat.
