In Snapdeal 2.0 ambitions, employees may be collateral damage

After cutting workforce from 10,000 to 1,200 in 1.5 years, Snapdeal will further prune it by 80%

Snapdeal’s “win” against its biggest investor SoftBank has come at a heavy price, which its 1,200-odd employees and 25 minority shareholders are likely to pay over the next few months. This is not the first time employees have been the collateral damage for decisions taken by co-founders.

So how many employees were let go at Jasper Infotech, the parent firm of Snapdeal? In one-and-a-half years, according to internal data accessed by Business Standard, Snapdeal, Freecharge and Vulcan Express have cut down their employee strength from 10,000 to 1,200.

Snapdeal is further planning to remove 80 per cent of the remaining workforce.

Many of the 1,200-odd employees had stuck around because they were sure the deal with Flipkart would go through. Now with the next round of layoffs imminent, the employees have been left in a lurch. According to a senior manager, the management assured employees of a merger and that every move would be for the benefit of employees. He claims the list of people to be laid off is ready.

“As a manager, I had to let go half my team within a matter of one week. They were made to resign, given some compensation, but even until the last moment it was not clear to them why they were being asked to leave,” the person said.

Snapdeal said no such assurance had been given to employees and attrition, not layoffs, was expected in the run-up to Snapdeal 2.0.

Minority shareholders, who were promised 10-20x returns, are trying to find a way to get the deal back on the table.

“Many want to approach the board and tell them to resurrect the deal. If that does not work, they are planning legal recourse,” said a representative of one of the minority shareholders.

According to sources at Snapdeal, minority shareholders do not have any say as the decision was taken by the board. “The shareholders do not have a vote,” the person said.