Reliance Industries’ e-commerce company JioMart has fired nearly 1,000 employees in the past few days and is reportedly considering further substantial layoffs. The Economic Times, citing officials familiar with the matter, reported that hundreds of employees have been put on performance improvement plans.
The company asked more than 1,000 employees on the ground, including 500 executives at its corporate office, to resign over the past few days. It also plans to have another large round of layoffs with hundreds of employees already put on a performance improvement plan (PIP), one of the officials to ET.
The report added that the company intends to cut around 10,000 jobs from the wholesale division as part of its cost-cutting measure over the next few weeks. HT could not independently verify the number.
The official added that other employees have been put on variable pay and Reliance has lowered their fixed pay salary.
What triggered the sacking
The move came after its recent acquisition of German retailer Metro AG’s Indian business – Metro Cash and Carry India Pvt last week. With the addition of the German retailer’s 3,500 workforces and acquiring 31 retail stores, the move to slash jobs at home is Reliance’s bid to streamline its operations. “With Metro’s strength, there will be an overlap of roles both at the backend and online sales operations,” an official told ET.
The report added that JioMart is currently focused on improving margins and reducing losses. This comes after the retail giant promoted a distribution price war in the business-to-business grocery space with its deep discounting measures.
The people familiar with the matter said that the company plans to shut 150 odd outlets that supply groceries and general merchandise to neighbourhood stores. In 2022-23, Reliance Retail opened more than 3,300 new physical stores. This expansion resulted in a total store count of over 18,000 by the end of the year.
