Simpl, the buy-now-pay-later startup, has initiated a significant round of layoffs. The recent layoffs have affected over 100 employees across various departments.
The announcement came during a Townhall session led by Nitya Sharma, CEO, and co-founder, Simpl, this Wednesday, 8 May, at 9 am, as per media reports. Reports also disclosed that some employees were even disconnected from their Slack accounts before the Townhall commenced.
The layoffs, which included personnel from diverse verticals, notably impacted high-ranking employees as well. Although promises of severance were made, the exact terms remain undisclosed.
Addressing the situation, Ashish Kulshrestha, head-corporate communications, Simpl, stated, “As an organisation committed to creating a shared value for our merchants, and millions of customers across the country, we have undertaken a series of measures to improve operational efficiencies, reduce fixed and overhead costs, along with taking the difficult decision of letting go of some of our talented employees. These efforts are enabling us to accelerate our journey towards profitability and build a fiscally prudent organisation. We have laid out a comprehensive growth plan while having a razor sharp focus on profitability in order to advance our mission of enabling e-commerce and Direct-to-Customer merchants to provide enhanced convenience to their customers.” He further stated, “With the continued efforts around improving business efficiencies, we are expecting to be profitable by mid-2025.”
To support the departing employees, the company has also announced severance packages including 2 months of salary with 15 days of salary for every year spent at Simpl, as well as extended medical insurance and outplacement services.
This recent decision by Simpl mirrors a similar move made in April of the previous year, when the company laid off over 150 employees, attributing it to over-hiring driven by assumptions of increased e-commerce demand due to the pandemic. During that period, Sharma addressed the staff through a letter, taking responsibility for the decision and acknowledging its repercussions, especially amidst economic uncertainties. He assured affected employees of a severance package, healthcare benefits, as well as outplacement and counselling support to assist them during this transition.
