Flipkart Puts 600 Employees on Improvement Plan

India’s largest e-commerce firm- Flipkart, has put 300-600 employees on an improvement plan which might end up in dismissal. A company spokesperson said the performance plan was part of a regular process, and would affect only 1% to 2% of the total employees, which are around 30,000. “At times, we have employees who do not meet the performance bar. We work closely with them to improve their performance. If these employees are still unable to make the desired progress, they are encouraged to seek opportunities outside the company,” he said.
The company has grown by offering discounts and providing logistics free of cost, funded by venture capital money. At its peak, the company was burning $40-50 million a month. A daily reported that Flipkart’s gross merchandise value (GMV), a technical term for value of goods sold without calculating discounts and promotions, stood at $4 billion last year.
The company hopes to achieve a turnaround by realigning, merging and shutting business units. The spokesperson said there have been no layoffs, and the performance plan has nothing to do with the slowdown in operations.
“This is a fairly common practice across various industries, especially in high-performing Internet organisations,” the spokesperson added.