SWVL, an Egyptian-born, Dubai-based mobility business, said today that it will lay off 32 percent of its workers.
According to the company’s LinkedIn site, it employs over 1,330 people. As a result of the layoffs of more than 30% of the staff, almost 400 individuals would lose their jobs at the mobility company.
In recent months, both private and public internet companies have seen their valuations plummet. The impacts of the economic downturn have also had an influence on company budgets, pushing companies to cut expenditures, with laying off staff at the top of the list.
The Dubai-based startup’s restructuring joins a long list of global phased layoffs in what has been a trying month for tech workers. More than 1
In the United States alone, 5,000 technicians are said to have lost their jobs. Parts of the employees at Klarna, Getir, Gorillas, and Bolt have been laid off, while Snap, Twitter, and Instacart have halted or stopped hiring entirely.
SWVL has had a very busy 18 months, culminating with this announcement. The company went public in March of this year after a SPAC merger with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, a women-led blank check corporation based in the United States.
It was selling at $10 per share, aiming for a $1.5 billion valuation, but it mostly moved between $4 and $8. The present market value is in the range of 500 to 600 million dollars.
According to insiders, the layoffs came just a month after SWVL paid $100 million for UK-based mass transit company Zeelo. SWVL has acquired five acquisitions in the last year, including door2door in Germany, Voltlines in Turkey (for $40 million), Shotl in Spain, and Viapool in Argentina.
While these acquisitions have aided SWVL’s overall growth, it needs to make job cuts in roles that will be automated as a result of investments in its engineering, product, and support function teams, according to the company.
SWVL said in a statement that the anticipated layoffs will affect teams responsible for functions that have been automated as a result of investments in engineering, product, and support services.
SWVL stated that it expects to be profitable within the following year. Hundreds of employees being laid off is one method to get there. Others include expanding its unique technology stack and growing its three models in existing and new markets, from which it makes $5 million in MRR, according to a release.
United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kenya, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Japan, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Pakistan are among the 13 markets where SWVL operates. The majority of the layoffs, according to a source, would occur at the company’s operations in Dubai and Pakistan.
“Swvl intends to help certain of its employee’s transition into new roles by providing financial, non-monetary, and job placement assistance. Swvl’s management anticipates the company to be cash-flow positive in 2023 as a result of the portfolio optimization initiative, according to a statement.
The layoffs were addressed in a letter from CEO Mostafa Kandil.
