Business

500 software jobs to go as Ola mulls cost-cutting

Apart from the 500, Ola Electric will further lay off 200 engineering positions and increase its investment in the EV market.

A significant restructuring process is currently taking place at the Bengaluru-based Ola. It is anticipated that cost-cutting strategies could lead to a reduction of 500 software professionals at the company. The company has also fired 200 engineers in the latest round of layoffs, which is expected to impact the engineering departments of its food and ride-hailing businesses.

As the world’s largest ride-hailing company sought to adjust its operations towards increasing financial performance and as part of its ambitions for a stock market float, it had fired roughly 2,000 workers earlier. The move was made in reaction to falling sales of the recently released Ola S1 Pro electric scooter.  The company, which shifted focus to the ride-hailing and EV sectors, has already let go of almost 1,000 employees this year.

The latest round of layoffs has occurred with the termination of nearly 200 engineers, as it has been facing difficulty raising capital due to adverse global macroeconomic conditions. The job cuts will have the greatest impact on Ola’s software engineers, as their skill set is expected to become somewhat outdated given the company’s new objectives. It intends to increase its sole emphasis on the “non-software engineering areas.”

Ola eScooters experience a number of issues

The S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters from Ola Electric received a lot of excitement before they were released in India. But after a few months, Ola Electric began to experience a number of setbacks, and the sunny picture began to fade. While a video of an Ola Electric scooter catching fire went viral on social media, another picture of the scooter’s shattered front suspension following an accident with another two-wheeler also garnered much social media attention.

A high-level committee that looked into this and eight other manufacturers involved in electric scooter fires discovered problems with the BMS, safety features, and the calibre of the cells used in the battery packs of these electric vehicle manufacturers. 

There have been numerous consumer complaints regarding the software, battery performance, and service concerns since the company entered the electric vehicle market nine months ago. The company’s sales have been falling every month.  The company also had trouble moving its premium electric scooter, the S1 pro. The company debuted a sub-Rs 1 lakh scooter in August and set up brick-and-mortar experience centres in response to the decline in sales.

Ola Electric mulls 200 outlets across India by March

Ola Electric has altered its online direct selling tactics in response to the decline in sales. Company boss Bhavish Agarwal recently sought customer suggestions to find out if they preferred to buy scooters from retail locations or online. He had then stated that 200 additional experience centres would be opened by March in addition to the 20 that were already operational, in addition to its online shopping option. Additionally, Aggarwal shared pictures of the company’s showrooms, where the company’s electric scooters are displayed and numerous customers can be seen admiring the colourful, battery-powered cars.

He has been quoted saying that experience centres will make Ola products more accessible to an added number of individuals. Ola experience centres will offer potential Ola customers test drive options as well as financing and post-purchase support. All these measures are to be seen as the company’s bid to increase sales, which have been plummeting over the past few months.

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