Paytm to give ESOPs worth Rs 250 cr; hire over 500 people to expand financial services

Digital payments major Paytm on Friday said it will offer employee stock ownership plan (ESOPs) worth Rs 250 crore this year.

The exercise, which will be completed over the next 3-4 months, will include high performing employees as well as new hires, Paytm said in a statement.

The company, however, did not disclose the number of employees it would cover, as the appraisal process is still on.

Paytm had started its company-wide process of annual performance reviews in January this year.

"This will widen the base of employees having company shares and will enable more people to become a stakeholder in the firm's growth story," the statement said.

In October last year, the company had given existing and former employees the option of liquidating their vested ESOPs to earn about Rs 300 crore during a secondary share sale.

"Paytm has a high-performance culture and follows a transparent process to evaluate and reward employees. We always ensure to provide ample growth opportunities and engage for feedbacks from time to time," Paytm CHRO Rohit Thakur said.

Besides, Paytm also plans to hire over 500 people for multiple roles, apart from continued hiring for roles in product and technology teams, the statement said.

The company has also decided to offer an extension of two months to employees who haven't performed well and would have been otherwise asked to leave.

"As a part of the appraisal process, some employees were assessed to be at the lower end of the bell curve range. As a part of the year-end process, the company typically asks them to look for opportunities outside the organisation.

"However, after analyzing the current scenario, Paytm has offered those employees to continue to be on the rolls of the company for another two months and receive all payments for this extended period," it said.

The nationwide lockdown, which has now been extended to May 3, has disrupted businesses, especially start-ups.

Many start-ups are facing financial stress given the paucity of business, and some of them are resorting to measures like salary cuts and even layoffs to tide over the ongoing crisis.

Recently, self-drive mobility platform Zoomcar had said it has decided to defer salaries of senior leaders and CEO Greg Moran as part of its efforts to tide over the "difficult time" on account of the coronavirus crisis.

Online used car marketplace CARS24 had said it has introduced a voluntary pay cut for employees that will be invested as ESOPs of the company.