Oyo Lays Off Another 600-800Employees As It Shifts To Lean Business Model

Softbank-backed hospitality firm OYO has again laid off around 600-800 employees, according to sources privy to the development. Most of the staffers are from the renovation and operations departments. The company plans to shut down these divisions and focus primarily on a revenue-sharing model with partner hotels.

Oyo will now be charging the hotel partners a share of the entire revenue they earn on their properties. It will cease to offer a minimum guarantee or even provide management staff at the hotel premises, something it used to do with the aim of maintaining consistency and to monitor quality. Now, while the hotel owners will be responsible for operations, the marketing will be done by OYO. Besides, regular compensation, which includes notice pay and leave encashment, the company is also offering these employees an option to surrender 25 percent of the unvested deeply discounted ESOPs granted to them in June in lieu of a cash benefit.

This cash amount can be equal to 25 percent of their March 2020 fixed salary. Until early 2020, the company had around 10,000 employees in the country. Now, the number is estimated to have come down to less than 2,500, with OYO shifting to a lean model and exiting operations and renovations.