After shutting its food delivery and online learning businesses in India, Amazon is set to pull the shutters down on its wholesale distribution business in the country as well. Separately, startups VerSe Innovation and Hirect have fired 150 and 200 employees, respectively.
Amazon shuts wholesale distribution business in India
Amazon is shutting down its wholesale distribution business in India, the latest in a series of retreats for the retailer in the key overseas market where it has deployed over $7 billion in the past decade, according to TechCrunch.
Amazon Distribution was designed to help kiranas — neighbourhood stores in India — pharmacies, and department stores secure inventory from the e-commerce giant.
Amazon did not say why it was shutting down the wholesale distribution offering, but the move comes shortly after it shut two other businesses — food delivery and online learning platform Academy — in the country amid a global restructuring.
The company didn’t say precisely when the service will be discontinued.
Google, MS-backed VerSe Innovation cuts 5% jobs
VerSe Innovation — the $5-billion Indian startup behind news aggregator Dailyhunt, short-video platform Josh, and hyperlocal video app PublicVibe — has reportedly laid off 150 employees, or 5% of its workforce of 3,000.
The Bengaluru-based startup informed the impacted employees on Friday and separately held a town hall meeting on Monday where it announced pay cuts to its remaining staff.
It’s a major downturn for VerSe Innovation, which is backed by the likes of Google and Microsoft and has raised more than $800 million in fresh funding as recently as April this year.
VerSe Innovation is the latest among a slew of Indian startups to cut jobs due to ongoing economic uncertainties. In the last couple of months, Byju’s, Unacademy, and Chargebee, among others, have laid off hundreds of employees.
Direct hiring platform Hirect lays off 40% workforce
Hirect, a chat-based direct hiring platform for startups, has laid off 40% of its team, or around 200 people, in what the company termed an organisational restructuring and a strategic change in its business model, according to VCCircle.
Co-founder and chief executive officer Raj Das said the company is undergoing a strategic change in its business model. Confirming that Hirect has laid off around 40% of its workforce, Das said, “We still have hundreds of employees with us.”
After a jobs boom during the pandemic era of cheap money, startups are laying off thousands of employees as their investors turn cautious because of the rising cost of funds. Companies such as Hirect that focus specifically on the startup segment are the worst affected as new hirings have slowed to a trickle.