Restructuring at Ola group likely to take away 200 engineering jobs

Aim is to minimize redundancy and centralise operations, says company

Ola Group, which spans across ride-hailing platform and Ola Electric, is undergoing major restructuring exercise across its engineering verticals and may cut nearly 200 engineering jobs as part of the process, sources said.

According to the SoftBank-backed firm said the aim of the restructuring exercise is to centralise operations, minimise redundancy, and build a strong lateral structure that strengthens relevant roles and functions.

The Bhavish Aggarwal-led company currently has around 2,000 engineers spread across the ride-hailing platform and Ola Electric, and the firm said it aims to increase its engineering talent pool to 5,000 over the next 18 months. But as part of the restructuring exercise, the company is laying off 10 per cent or about 200 of the 2000 engineers, according to the sources. 

Overall the company at a group level has a total workforce of around 10,000 people.

Though Ola Electric confirmed that it is going through a restructuring exercise, it declined to comment on the number of people it may lay off. 

Ola Electric said it has been increasing its focus on non-software engineering domains and building engineering and R&D capabilities. This is across the vehicle, cell, battery, manufacturing and automation and autonomous engineering streams. 

The company said it is focused on being a vertically integrated mobility company. It is building on common capabilities and synergies across functions as it strengthens its play across two-wheelers, four-wheelers, cell research and development and manufacturing.  

“In light of these efforts, the company is centralising operations and is undertaking a restructuring exercise,” said the company. “Ola’s growth has been built on a strong foundation of global talent and a strong leadership bench strength. Ola Electric’s ambitions are gathering pace with the company making an influx of hirings for roles in vehicle engineering, sourcing, product management and data science.” 

Ola Electric recently announced that it is reimagining Ola Futurefactory into an EV hub, which shall create 1 million cars, 10 million 2Ws, and 100 GWh of cells a year at a single site. It will be the largest EV ecosystem in the world.

In July this year, Ola, the mobility platform, laid off 400-500 employees -- in a move aimed at driving cost efficiency. These layoffs took place across departments, amid a challenging funding environment and delay in listing plans. 

This year the company shut down its used vehicle business Ola Cars and quick-commerce business Ola Dash which promised 10-minute food delivery. It has repurposed the infrastructure and capabilities of the Ola Cars business towards boosting the Ola Electric sales and service network.

The company shut down Ola Cars within a year of its launch as it shifted focus to its electric two-wheeler and car verticals. Ola has, so far, shut down Ola Cafe, Food Panda, Ola Foods, and Ola Dash. In May 2020, Ola announced laying off 1,400 employees, or over 33 per cent of its workforce, as Covid-19 continued to hurt the transportation industry.