Meesho lays off 251 employees

Homegrown social commerce platform Meesho on Friday said it has laid off 251 employees, constituting 15 per cent of the workforce, in order to “achieve sustained profitability”. In a statement, the company said that it has taken a difficult decision to “part ways with 251 Meeshoites constituting 15 per cent of the employee base, as we look to work with a leaner organisational structure to achieve sustained profitability”. The company said that it is committed to ensuring all those impacted “have our full support and will be provided a separation package that includes a one-time severance payment of 2.5 to 9 months (depending on tenor and designation), continued insurance benefits, job placement support and accelerated vesting of ESOPs”. “We remain grateful for their contributions in building Meesho,” a company spokesperson said. Meesho last year shut down its grocery business called Superstore in more than 90 per cent of cities in India, resulting in several job losses. According to reports, nearly 300 employees lost jobs after the shuttering of Meesho Superstore. Meesho had rebranded Farmiso to Superstore, with an aim to highlight its continued focus to fulfill consumer demand for daily essentials in Tier 2 markets and beyond. Meesho Superstore was operational in Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The company had launched a pilot in Karnataka to make online grocery shopping affordable.