BookMyShow to lay off, send on leave without pay around 270 workers

With theatres and stadiums completely shut since the lockdown, the ticketing company BookMyShow has decided to downsize by laying off or sending about 270 employees on leave without pay in globally including India.

Besides India, BookMyShow operates in four markets, as per its website, including Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Ashish Hemrajani, CEO, BookMyShow intimated the decision to the employees via email and the same was also published in its blog.

By the company’s decision around 18 per cent of the workforce will be affected, reported Financial Express.

However, the employees that are no longer a part of the organisation will get a minimum of two months of salary, irrespective of their tenure or as per notice period, whichever is higher.

Related news: After Swiggy, Zomato, Ola to now lay off 1,400 employees

They will also be offered medical insurance cover until September 30.

Along with that the employees will also have continued access to the company’s Inner Hour mental health helpline program for counselling during the difficult period.

Calling the job cuts the company’s last resort, Hemrajani added that the existing team had voluntarily taken salary cuts ranging from 10 per cent to 50 per cent at the leadership level.

“Please know that this is not a reflection of your performance or ability at all,” Hemrajani wrote in the email.

“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,” further the email read.

Previously, Zomato and Swiggy announced similar layoffs as a response to the COVID-19 impact and earlier this week, Uber announced the removal of 600 employees in India, while Ola laid off about 1,400 employees in the country.