Now ShareChat joins the long list of company laying off employees during the current market realities. The firm announced that it will let go of 25% of its workforce due to the uncertainties in advertising industry in coming months. The regional social media firm sent emails to its employees informing them about the various cost-cutting measures they are taking.
ShareChat was started 5 years ago though it started using advertisements as a cash cow since October last year but due to Covid-19, the advertisement industry has been severely affected.
Ankush Sachdeva, Co-founder & CEO, ShareChat said in the email addressed to the company,
“We have to focus on our core product and feed recommendation driven growth levers while scaling back on the others. We need to go back to our fundamentals in terms of only picking bets that move the needle for growth,”
He added that the advertisements will remain unpredictable this year and they are streamlining their revenue teams to these new expectations.
The affected employees will be given the option of taking ‘Garden Leave’ for two months or half the salary for four months. They will also receive 1-month ex-gratia for the number of years that they have worked for the company. The employees will receive the benefits of health insurance until the end of the year. The company has also extended the timeline for stocks owned by employees till the end of 2020.
They will also help the employees find new jobs by connecting them to recruiters, organisations and agencies. ShareChat has also partnered with professional resume builder to help the affected employees strengthen their resume and LinkedIn profile free of cost.
Sachdeva added in the email,
“While I understand that no amount of benefits can assuage what you will go through; we are committed to handling this as respectfully as we can. Lastly, I want to thank all of you who will be leaving us for your commitment to the company’s vision during these growing years. Please accept my apologies as we haven’t been able to ensure that every one of you continued on this journey.”