BookMyShow Will Fire, Stop Salaries Of 270 Employees; 2-Month Severance Package Announced

As the COVID-19 resultant lockdown affects the economy, its casualties are causing an adverse impact on the startup ecosystem of the country. 

With the theatres and stadiums closed, recently, the movie and event ticketing platform, BookMyShow bore the brunt of the impact. according to a note written by the founder Ashish Hemrajani to employees. The company, which has 1,450 employees globally including India, will be laying off and furloughing a total of around 270 employees.

Read to find out more…

BookMyShow’s 18% Workforce Impacted!

BookMyShow is the first entertainment-focused app to have announced layoffs. Its revenues have been impacted mainly because it survives on out-of-home entertainment.

BookMyShow CEO Ashish Hemrajani revealed the layoff in an email to the company’s employees. He also published the same on the company’s blog. This means approximately 18% of the workforce will be impacted.

Hemrajani said, “Reducing employee strength is part of the company’s overall effort to cut costs wherever possible and to align them with revenues that will be “greatly reduced” in the coming months. “Today, we are at the stage where I have to share with you, the uncomfortable, unfortunate yet inevitable downsizing exercise that we have to take due to the unfavourable environment. None of these decisions reflect the quality of the work that any of these team members have put in.”

Even though Hemrajani didn’t confirm the number of employees laid off and furloughed separately however he pointed out that the remaining team members have taken 10-50% voluntary salary cuts at the leadership level apart from giving up bonuses and salary raises. The tough decision was taken as the last resort to further cut costs after the company had already cut other expenses. It also tried to negotiate with all vendors, partners, and landlords to enable cost saving measures via other means.

Hemrajani wrote, in the email, “Please know that this is not a reflection of your performance or ability at all.” He also said,  “I can’t imagine how stressful this may be for you and want to let you know that we are by your side and will do everything we can to help with the situation.”

Lockdown has impacted other leading internet businesses in the country including Ola, Uber India, Snapdeal, CarDekho, Zomato, Swiggy, OYO among others that have either laid off or furloughed a piece of their workforce to reset their cost base in order to somehow weather the current crisis that has killed consumer demand and impacted supply chains.

With theatres and stadiums not opening soon, BookMyShow has to develop, strategise and adapt to the changing environment. 

What Benefits Will Laid Off and Furloughed Employees Receive?

The company has not revealed the division of employees that have been put on furlough and those who are being handed pink slips. 

Furloughing means sending an employee on leave without a pay but allowing them to continue being employed with the company. By this, the employees enjoy other benefits as per employment standards like medical insurance, gratuity among others.

The laid off employees will be released with severance pay ‘equivalent to a minimum of 2 months of salary irrespective of their tenure or as per notice period, whichever is higher’. They will also be offered medical insurance cover until September 30. These employees will also have continued access to the company’s Inner Hour mental health helpline programme for counselling during the difficult period.

BookMyShow senior leadership and recruitment will also help impacted employees look for new job opportunities through its career transition support. Laid off employees in specific teams will also receive a BookMyShow certificate highlighting specific skills that make them unique. This will help them add more weight to their resume.