MakeMyTrip: A Travel Giant Hit By COVID-19
MakeMyTrip is a prominent name in the Indian travel industry. With its HQ in Gurugram, the company has garnered a lot of attention since its inception in 2000. It provides a wide range of travel services like flight and hotel bookings, holiday packages, and more. The company went public in 2010 and has been performing well since then. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic creating havoc everywhere, the company had to make some tough decisions which resulted in a layoff of 350 employees on the 1st of June 2020, which is around 10% of its workforce.
History and Funding
MakeMyTrip was founded by Deep Kalra in 2000 with the vision of setting up a world-class travel company that caters to all your travel needs. The company quickly rose to prominence and got its initial funding $1.78 million in 2005 from SAIF partners and Helion Ventures. Since then, the company has had multiple funding rounds and raised a total of $548 million post-IPO. The investors include big names like Tiger Global and Ctrip.
Company Performance
MakeMyTrip had been performing well consistently and had seen a steady increase in its revenue until the pandemic hit. The travel restrictions put in place by the government, coupled with people’s fear of the virus, hit the travel industry hard. And MakeMyTrip was no exception. The company was forced to cut costs to stay afloat and had to make some tough decisions, including the layoffs.
Reasons for Layoffs
The company’s Vice President of Administration, Ankush Yadav, stated that MakeMyTrip had to undertake the layoffs to keep the company alive in the face of unprecedented challenges created by the pandemic. The travel industry had faced a severe blow with people refraining from traveling due to the fear of contracting the virus. MakeMyTrip had to cut costs to keep its operations running, and the only way to do that was to lay off employees
Number of Employees Laid Off
The company had to lay off 350 employees on the 1st of June 2020, which accounts for around 10% of its workforce. As per reports, the affected employees received a severance package, including two months’ pay, one month of insurance, and a pro-rata bonus for the current year.
Statement from Company Stakeholders
MakeMyTrip’s co-founder and Group CEO, Deep Kalra, said that the company had to go through the tough ordeal of laying off employees due to the unprecedented crisis that the travel industry faced. It was a painful decision, but necessary to safeguard the company’s future and to maintain its operations efficiently in these trying times. The company is doing everything in its power to support and take care of the affected employees.
