NE Watch Desk
As a cost cutting measures, One97
Communications Ltd has fired more than 1,000 employees across multiple
divisions. It is the parent company of digital payments firm Paytm.
A Paytm spokesperson has confirmed the
reports of reduction in its workforce in the operations and marketing team. Paytm
commenced the process of layoffs as early as October, said an insider.
AI To Transform Operations
The Paytm spokesperson accentuated that the
firm is aiming to transform its operations by incorporating “artificial
intelligence or AI-powered automation to eradicate repetitive works and roles”.
This move will “lead to efficiency across growth and costs, resulting in a
slight reduction the workforce in operations and marketing”.
He further emphasized that the company
will be capable of saving up to 10 to 15 per cent on employee costs “as AI has
delivered better than we expected it to. In addition to it, we constantly
evaluate cases of non-performance throughout the year”.
New Hiring Continues
Despite reducing workforce, the firm plans
to expand manpower by 15,000 in its core payments business in the near future.
The company, “with a dominant position
in the payments platform and an established profitable business model”, will carry
on to innovate for Bharat” with an intention to expand business verticals like
insurance and wealth.
The incidents of layoffs are not specific
to Paytm. AI-powered technologies have replaced a notable number of employees
in multiple new-age financial companies in the first three quarters of the present
year.
Post announcement, Paytm’s shares tanked
sharply by 20 per cent after many brokerages expressed their views about the
negative impact of the move.
