Walmart-owned Flipkart sees two top-level exits, both after eight years

Early this year, Flipkart told staff it won't be handing out increments to senior leadership in a 'difficult decision' that was expected to impact 4,500 personnel

Walmart-owned e-commerce firm Flipkart is witnessing the exit of a few top-level officials. Adarsh Menon, senior vice president and head of new businesses, Flipkart is leaving the company, according to company sources. They said that Menon may pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions.

Menon has been a key member of the Flipkart leadership team for over eight years. He has played an integral role in the growth and success of Flipkart. He has held several leadership roles for businesses including Electronics BU, Flipkart Private Brands & Private Labels, Flipkart Wholesale, and Furniture BU.

Another top official Ravish Kumar Sinha is also ending his eight-year-old tenure at the firm.  Sinha played an integral role in Flipkart’s growth and success. As the leader of the Fulfillment Service Group, and Central Functions Group, he spearheaded numerous initiatives to enhance the customer experience, increase profitability, and drive growth.

In addition, Sinha has headed several key charters during his tenure, including Shopping Experience, Ads, Marketplace and Planning.

An email query to Flipkart remained unanswered.

Last year Flipkart did a restructuring process and came up with two units--New Businesses and M3--for focus and to scale up. 'New Businesses' comprised travel (Cleartrip and Flipkart Travel), social commerce platform Shopsy and ReCommerce. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkart’s chief executive officer, gave the responsibility to head these businesses to Adarsh Menon, who that time was senior vice president, category design and operations. “Adarsh (Menon) has been with Flipkart for seven years and has successfully led and scaled both established businesses and 0-to-1 charters,” said Krishnamurthy, had said.

Before Flipkart, Menon worked for 11 years at the consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever. At Flipkart, he reported to Krishnamurthy. At Flipkart, he moved into the new role after completing the transition of Flipkart Wholesale to the respective Leaders across CDO, One Tech, EKart and Corp Functions. Prior to that, he led and scaled the electronics and furniture BUs (business units) and also built the private brands and private labels businesses from scratch.

Flipkart has reportedly reshuffled executives at the vice-president level in some categories. According to an executive, the firm undertakes the reshuffle at VP level every three years. This allows executives to head different businesses. Many of those shifted to other roles had already assumed responsibilities.

Early this year, Flipkart told employees that it will not be handing out increments to its senior leadership in the Grade 10 and above category — that includes roles as diverse as managers to vice-presidents — in a ‘difficult decision’ that was expected to impact 4,500 personnel.

The company is purportedly trying to conserve cash and focus on profitability, said people familiar with the strategy of India’s largest e-commerce player. With hiring on the go-slow, the company isn’t persuading employees who wish to move to greener pastures to stay back either, they said. However, 70 per cent, or 10,500 employees, below the level of a manager,  received the increment. Flipkart has about 15,000 corporate employees.