Paytm lays off 1,000 employees amid cost-cutting efforts: Report

Paytm has laid off 1,000 employees in a cost-cutting exercise, according to an Economic Times report. This will be the first layoffs at the publicly listed company in 2023.

The report further highlighted that the job cuts have taken place over the last few months and the move is likely to impact at least 10% of the company's workforce.

A Paytm spokesperson confirmed the layoffs but denied the numbers quoted in the media report.

"We are transforming our operations with AI-powered automation to drive efficiency, eliminating repetitive tasks and roles to drive efficiency across growth and costs, resulting in a slight reduction in our workforce in operations and marketing. We will be able to save 10-15% in employee costs as AI has delivered more than we expected it to. Additionally, we constantly evaluate cases of non-performance throughout the year,” said a company spokesperson.

Paytm had fired more than 20,000 employees in 2022, and 4,080 in 2021.

The fintech company’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma recently said that they are leveraging AI to revolutionize payments and financial services like wealth management.

The development can also be related to the withdrawal of small-ticket consumer lending and buy-now-pay-later segments due to regulatory restrictions on unsecured loans by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Paytm recorded a 32% growth in its consolidated revenue from operations to Rs 2,519 crore in the second quarter of the ongoing fiscal year or Q2 FY24. It posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 292 crore during the quarter. The firm had reported operating profitability in early 2023, and is now eyeing for EBITDA-level profitability.