Hospitality firm Oyo has reportedly laid off another 600-800 employees as it prepares for a move towards a leaner business model. Sources familiar with the matter have claimed that most of the workers are from the operations and renovation departments, which the Softbank-backed company is planning to shut down, in order to place more focus on a revenue-sharing model with its partner hotels.

Oyo’s partner hotels will now be charged a share of the overall revenue earned on their properties. Oyo will no longer offer a minimum guarantee, or even offer management staff at the hotel premises, which it used to provide in the past, to monitor quality and maintain consistency.

While hotel owners will be accountable for the operations, the marketing activities will be handled by Oyo.

Apart from regular compensation, which entails leave encashment and notice pay, Oyo will offer laid off employees an alternative option, which is to surrender 25% of the unvested, deeply discounted ESOPs they were granted in June, to avail a cash benefit. The cash amount can apparently be equal to 25% of their fixed salary in March 2020.

The company, which has a reported war chest of $1 billion, also gave promotions and increments to its technology team selectively, placing emphasis on the burgeoning role of technology in its future operations.

However, an Oyo spokesperson apparently issued a denial on the number of layoffs, claiming that it was largely overstated. The spokesperson commented that no significant restructuring was being undertaken and that the changes were a result of localized actions based on the change in the business model, and the company’s move towards technology and products to accommodate customers and partners taking into account the present business realities.

In April 2020, soon after the pandemic was declared, Oyo urged select staff to go on leave with limited benefits and asked employees across the nation to accept a 25% cut in their fixed salaries.

Source credit: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/startup/exclusive-oyo-lays-off-another-600-800-employees-as-it-moves-to-a-revenue-sharing-model-6202571.html