Ola Electric has lost its long-held top position in India’s electric space, and its stock is down nearly 70 percent from its peak. And amid all this, the company is looking to cut jobs to help pare costs.
Ola Electric is laying off over a thousand employees, Bloomberg reports. The cuts span multiple departments including procurement, fulfillment, customer relations and charging infrastructure. The layoffs amount to over a quarter of Ola’s 4,000 employee base as of March 2024, but includes contract workers that aren’t counted in the company’s public disclosures.
“We have restructured and automated our front-end operations delivering improved margins, reduced cost, and enhanced customer experience while eliminating redundant roles for better productivity”, an Ola spokesperson said in an emailed response to Bloomberg, without addressing the number of workers cut.
Ola Electric had previously laid off 500 employees were laid off last November. The company has faced a difficult few months, which have seen it rapidly lose market share to two-wheeler incumbents. In June 2024, Ola had a market share of 49 percent, which fell to 39 percent in July, 32 percent in August, and 27 percent in September. In October, Ola Electric’s market share rose marginally to 30 percent, but fell to 24 percent in November, a shade ahead of TVS at 23 percent and Bajaj at 22 percent. And in December, Ola’s market share had fallen to 23 percent and been pushed to second plance, while Bajaj had grabbed the number one spot with 25 percent. Ola’s share had risen in January, but reports suggest that it’s fallen to fourth place in February.
Meanwhile, the company has also seen some high-profile exits. Ola Electric’s Chief Technology Officer and Chief Product Officer had simultaneously resigned in December last year. Its stock has been floundering too — after rising to levels of Rs. 150 per share, it currently trades at Rs. 53. To make matters worse, Ola had been pulled up by SEBI for a post on X by CEO Bhavish Agarwal which disclosed material information before the company had informed the stock exchanges, and the company has been in the limelight for its customer service issues. And with the company now looking to let go of 1,000 employees, it appears that Ola Electric will need to get back to the drawing board and look to strategize and compete in India’s increasingly competitive electric two-wheeler space.