The redundancy came about with 98% automation in order processing, helped by a combination of stronger processes and controls.
Foodpanda India has laid off more than 300 of its employees, at a time when it continues to face increased competition from Zomato and other emerging nimbler startups.
The layoffs, which constitute about 15% of the company’s overall workforce in the country, will affect about 330 Foodpanda India employees, given that the company had an employee strength of about 2,200 prior to the reductions.
“While we continued to invest in processes and technology we also had to take some difficult decisions but we believe them to be necessary steps on our path to become sustainable and profitable within the targeted timeline,” Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, Foodpanda India.
The layoffs are taking place in the Indian unit of Foodpanda only, which claims to offer menus from over 12,000 restaurants, spread across over 200 cities in the country.
“Re-organization of the business was done across every aspect, from technology to processes to customer service,” said Kochhar.
“There are no further layoffs planned in the immediate future, as we continue to grow at a rapid speed and we believe the year 2016 is going be a great year for our business. We are focused on building scalable revenues and capabilities with a long-term goal,” said Kochhar.
According to the official company statement, the decision to lay off employees was taken after it achieved “about 98% automation rate in order processing,” helped by a combination of “stronger processes and controls to make operations more efficient.”
The announcement comes a little over five months after Rohit Chadda, a now-former managing director, stepped down from the day-to-day responsibilities of running the company.
