OYO To Lay Off 5K Workers To Cut Costs

As it pursues profitability and aims to reduce expenditures, economy hotel firm OYO is reducing its worldwide workforce by 5,000 individuals. The newest wave of job reductions would cut the company’s headcount to 25,000 across more than 80 nations, according to reports.

The job reductions would reportedly have a big effect on OYO’s business in China, India and the U.S. The company also intends to lay off 4,000 discretionary laborers “temporarily,” and some of those individuals will reportedly be invited back when business rebounds. An OYO spokesperson said the job reductions are part of a reorganization announced at the start of the year.

The spokesperson said, per the report, “The global restructuring exercise at OYO was announced in January 2020, and the recent developments in China are in line with the same. China is a home market for OYO, and we will continue working with our thousands of retained OYOpreneurs to deliver against our core mission of creating quality living experiences for millions of middle-income people around the world.”

The company, which is backed by SoftBank and was started by Ritesh Agarwal, has grown aggressively into global markets in recent years. The company has notched over $1.5 billion in funding over its journey. Agarwal announced in October that the company was aiming to raise $1.5 billion more, with him personally financing $700 million.

In February, it was reported that OYO was decelerating its ambitions to be the biggest chain in the world within the next three years, following a backlash from investors and expanding losses. Rohit Kapoor, the CEO for OYO in India and South Asia, said at the time that the firm had to cut back approximately 2,000 staff, pull out of 200 cities and take away 1,000 locations from its platform.