MakeMyTrip fires 350 employees as company looks for ways to sustain during the Covid19 pandemic

• MakeMyTrip has laid off 350 employees as the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the travel and tourism industry.
• Group chairman Deep Kalra and CEO Rajesh Magow said in an email to employees on Friday that the pandemic has changed the context and viability of some of their business lines.
• The top management had earlier said that they will be foregoing their full year salary.

India’s largest travel aggregator MakeMyTrip has laid off 350 employees as the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the travel and tourism industry.

“It’s become agonisingly clear that there are certain lines of business (LoBs) that are far deeply affected and will take much longer than the others to recover. As we revisited some of our strategic imperatives to be able to sustain our business in the long term, it is evident that the pandemic has changed the context and viability of some of our business lines in its current form. Keeping this in mind we have had to take this sad but inevitable decision of rightsizing our workforce in these businesses,” founder Deep Kalra and CEO Rajesh Magow said in an email to employees on Friday.

The NASDAQ listed company has also seen its share prices fall by 32.9% since the beginning of the year.

With the uncertainty all around, the travel industry had been estimated to be hit the worst. A report by the World Economic Forum said that the World Travel and Tourism Council has warned the coronavirus pandemic could result in 50 million jobs being cut worldwide in the travel and tourism industry.

MMT group Chairman Deep Kalra and CEO Rajesh Magow had earlier said that they will be foregoing their salary from April 2020.

“We have tried to do our best to offer support including Mediclaim coverage for individuals and their families till the end of the year, leave encashment, gratuity, retaining the right to exercise part of RSUs (restricted stock units) as applicable, retention of company laptops and outplacement support apart from salary payments as per their notice periods,” said the top management in the email.

As the travel and tourism business had come to a complete stop, MMT had also announced its foray into food delivery. The company rolled out an online gourmet delivery service in partnership with luxury and premium hotel chains and independent properties across cities in India.

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