ShareChat lays off 15% of its workforce to streamline costs
ShareChat laid off 20% of its employees in January this year. In February, it undertook more workforce reduction after scaling down its live commerce division.
ShareChat, the social media platform that operates in various regional languages, has laid off around 15% of its workforce as it aims to streamline its cost base and achieve profitability.
In a statement, the company said, “ShareChat today undertook a strategic restructuring as part of its annual planning for the year 2024. The decision reflects the company's commitment to streamlining its cost base and achieving profitability within the next 4-6 quarters.”
This is the third such action taken by this year. In January, it had sacked 20% of its employees, impacting 420 jobs. In February, it undertook more job cuts after scaling down its live commerce division.
The company reasoned that it wanted to streamline operations, enhance productivity and position the company for sustainable growth. “As a result, the organisation has moved to a flatter organisational structure and prioritised product initiatives,” the statement noted.
The company also saw two of its co-founders—Farid Ahsan and Bhanu Pratap Singh—step down from their active roles and later founded a robotics startup, General Autonomy.
Earlier, YourStory reported that Mohalla Tech, the parent of ShareChat and short video platform Moj, saw its losses widen to Rs 5,144.25 crore in FY23, a 72% jump from Rs 2,988.63 crore in FY22. The company's revenue from operations stood at Rs 552.73 crore in FY23 compared to Rs 2,988.63 crore a year ago.
The major expense came from the write-off related to the short video platform, Takatak. In the period ended March 2023, expenses related to depreciation and amortisation linked to Takatak soared to Rs 1,920 crore, from Rs 24.4 crore in the previous year. Sharechat acquired Takatak in February last year.
Edited by Kanishk Singh