Zomato, which is a food delivery platform revealed that it has laid off around 541 people – which is around 10% of the company strength, across the customer, merchant, and delivery partner support team. The reason behind the move is an improved Zomato platform with the AI-driven bots and automation in resolving the customer queries that have even led to an overall reduction in direct order-related support queries, said the announcement.
“While this has been a painful decision, to make the transition smoother, we have extended between two-month severance pay (based on tenure), family health insurance cover (till the end of January 2020) and career fair opportunities with companies,” said Zomato.
The company, which is at loggerheads with the National Restaurant Association of India over the deep discounts in its fine dining Gold Programme, which has been claimed it has improved the speed of service resolution and now only 7.5% of its order and need support.
“Over the last few months, we have seen our technology products and platforms evolve and improve significantly. This has led to an overall reduction in direct order-related support queries,” said the company.
Zomato revealed that it had hired 1200 people across the functions and another more than 400 off rolls positions, and is currently hiring in technology, data sciences, and product teams.