layoffs in livespace: Livspace cuts almost half of technical and product positions in an attempt to become profitable
The cuts affected 45% of technology and product teams, three people familiar with the matter told ET. A total of 36 employees, including software developers and directors from a team of 80, were forced to leave the company, these sources said.
“We are taking all necessary steps to ensure a smooth transition for employees in the form of an assistance package, extended health coverage and essential employment services wherever possible in our network,” said an ET spokesperson.
Founded in 2015 by Ramakant Sharma and Anuj Srivastava, Livspace, which is valued at $1.2 billion.provides a three-way marketplace and design automation platform that connects homeowners, certified designers and vendors.
Its investors are the largest private equity company KKR, Ingka Group Investments, part of the parent company IKEA Ingka Group, Jungle Ventures, Venturi Partners, Peugeot Investments and others. To date, it has raised $450 million from investors.
Livspace has a total of 5,000 employees. It’s not clear if layoffs including non-technical workers.
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“There is a lot of pressure on them to ensure profitability, and therefore layoffs … Any work that is not related to profitability is now stopped,” one of the sources said. The person added that the Bangalore-based startup is cutting costs by reducing software services by moving plans from premium to basic from September 2022. Affected employees, who were informed of the layoffs Thursday through Saturday in conversations with HR by CEO and CTO Praveen Kumar, will receive a severance package equal to the number of weeks they have worked at the startup, another source said.
“At a company of our size, we will reallocate resources in the normal course of business. This is natural and reflects adjustments and/or performance management settings,” a spokesperson said in response to ET’s request for comment.
Last October, Livspace committed $100 million in acquisitions to delve deeper into existing geographies, add new categories to its core offerings, and increase the profitability of its business as a whole.
Earlier in 2020 Livspace laid off 450 employees15% of the total workforce due to the impact of lockdowns caused by Covid-19.
Startups across the board are laying off to boost their cash flows by funding winter growth and late-stage companies in 2023, mature tech companies like Share, GoMechanic, MohallaTech, Swiggy, Dunzo, Ola, no cash, Bijuu, Vedanta, Unacademy also cut staff.
Earlier this month, Livspace’s rival HomeLane also took cost-cutting measures, which led to the layoffs of a significant portion of the company’s technology and product positions, a team of about 100 people.
“We had to resize because we had to cut some fixed costs. We’ve all had to do this… we’re not immune to it,” founder and CEO Srikant Iyer told ET. HomeLane’s actions also focused on improving profitability.