Snapdeal finally dropped the bombshell today that was being spoken of in hushed whispers in the Indian startup world for a while – the company’s now admitted it’s in big trouble, and has now turned to desperate measures in a bid to stay alive. Being unable to raise a next round of funding, Snapdeal today announced that it was laying off over 600 employees, and founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal were forgoing their Rs. 46 crore salaries.
Twitter, though, has been less than sympathetic to Snapdeal’s plight, given how several analysts and observers had been calling this meltdown for years. There was much criticism of the founders.
Why is this news of SD layoffs so surprising? Every one saw it coming. Amazed though that KB RB are avoiding all employees #NoBalls
— Startup Kumar (@StartupKumar) February 15, 2017
Commiserations to all the people being laid off from Snapdeal – sad how the folks paying the price are not the ones who made the bad calls
— Sumanth Raghavendra (@sumanthr) February 22, 2017
"…all of us starting with myself and Rohit, are to blame for it”
Nope, not all of you, just you and Rohit https://t.co/fCWrxbRc03— Sumanth Raghavendra (@sumanthr) February 22, 2017
"GMV is vanity, profit is sanity," says #KunalBahl in letter to #Snapdeal employees. hahaha. Now you know??? #startup #india #ecommerce
— ItikaSPunit (@ItikaSPunit) February 22, 2017
There were also barbs reserved for Snapdeal’s hiring policies – this isn’t the first time that Snapdeal has fired employees en masse. Last year, Snapdeal had fired 600 of its customer service employees, who’d then protested at their offices with chants against the founders.
Snapdeal hires and fires so fast that the employee is already on notice period before receiving the joining bonus
— भसड़ कुतेंद्र (@BhasadiKutta) February 22, 2017
Sensing an opportunity, people have already started offering jobs to laid off workers.
Now that's a good step.. u cud have done d same @snapdeal @rohitkbansal pic.twitter.com/DNnfSOLhVn
— Saurabh Saha (@neocortex666) February 12, 2017
And while it’s a sombre occasion with jobs being lost and careers at stake, the jokes started coming soon enough.
"All my friends are getting laid, i'm just getting laid…..off" ~ Snapdeal employee
— The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega) February 22, 2017
There were also references to Snapdeal’s Rs. 200 crore marketing campaign, which it had launched late last year.
Heard that Snapdeal is Unboxing around 600 Zindagis from their office.
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) February 22, 2017
I thought #SnapDeal 'Unbox Zindagi' was for customers, not employees. #LayOff
— iMallu (@NaanumEngineer) February 22, 2017
Ouch.