Experts say 60,000 could lose their jobs in Startups

In the last five months, Indian startups have laid off approximately 6,000 employees. However, according to several experts the startup firing season will continue. Archit Garg, the co-founder of Glamyo Health, estimates that startup layoffs will be ten times the current figure of 60,000.

“Unfortunately there is more pain in the ecosystem and the funding environment could take 6- 9 months to reverse, so chances are that the actual number will be 10 times of this as I expect there will be more negative news which we will hear about in the near future,” said Garg.

As students return to school, edtech workers may be the hardest hit. "With a significant crisis brewing in the Indian edtech sector, a lack of clarity in structure and processes is a roadblock," said Naveen Jangir, co-founder of HRTech firm Incluzon. According to media reports and company announcements, companies such as Ola, Unacademy, and Vedantu have laid off over 3,600 employees this year.

Yogita Tulsiani, managing director and co-founder of global tech-recruitment provider iXceed Solutions, noted that this would affect both low- and high-funded startups. Most businesses hired aggressively at the start of the pandemic and are now unable to handle it.