- विज्ञापन -
New Delhi: Zomato has reportedly let go of approximately 600 customer support associates, just one year after hiring them under its Zomato Associate Accelerator Program (ZAAP). This move comes at a time when the food delivery giant is grappling with slower growth in its core food delivery business and increasing losses in its quick commerce arm, Blinkit
The Company which has been leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to automate customer support functions, has seen redundancies in these roles. Zomato’s AI-powered platform, Nugget, is currently handling over 15 million support interactions per month across Zomato, Blinkit, and Hyperpure.
Most of the employees hired under ZAAP, a program launched a year ago to offer career advancement opportunities in roles across sales, operations and supply chain, did not have their contracts renewed. Many of the affected employees were reportedly given one month’s salary as compensation and were let go without notice, citing reasons such as poor performance and punctuality.
Several current and former employees have expressed frustration, with one describing the atmosphere in Zomato’s Gurugram and Hyderabad offices as tense due to sudden layoffs.
Zomato employees laid off by the food delivery giant have lashed out at the company, claiming they were fired “out of nowhere.” In separate posts shared on Reddit over the last one week, at least two Zomato employees claimed they were let go without so much as a warning.
Fired without warning
News of Zomato layoffs first began to circulate on March 25, when a person claiming to be a former employee of the company took to Reddit to say that he was fired without a warning.
In his disgruntled Reddit post, the person said that Zomato gave a “ridiculous” reason for his termination – “Today, I was fired from Zomato for what I can only describe as a ridiculous and unfair reason: being late by an average of just 28 minutes over the past three months,” he wrote.
The company’s shift towards AI-driven customer support platforms like Nugget has been a part of its broader strategy to cut costs amidst mounting financial pressures. Zomato has also reported challenges in scaling beyond its top 8 cities and increased losses from its Blinkit vertical due to rapid expansion and rising competition.
This round of layoffs follows a similar move in December 2022, when Zomato dismissed 100 employees, approximately 4% of its workforce, across multiple departments.
Zomato’s financial results for Q3 FY2024-25 showed a significant 57% decline in profit after tax (PAT), which dropped to Rs 59 crore from Rs 138 crore in the same period last year. However the company saw a 64% increase in revenue, reaching Rs 5,404 crore for the quarter, up from Rs. 3,288 crore in Q3 of the previous year.
