Indian Startup CEO Shows Empathy During Layoffs, Helps 67 Of 70 Fired Workers Get New Jobs

In recent times, the Indian startup ecosystem has been grappling with a new wave of mass layoffs, leaving many employees suddenly unemployed. Stories of people finding out about their job loss through blocked emails or being abruptly removed from company communication platforms like Slack have flooded social media.Amidst this, Harsh Pokharna, the CEO of Bengaluru-based OkCredit, has gained appreciation for taking a more humane approach to layoffs.

Representative image source: UnsplashHarsh Pokharna recently took to LinkedIn to share the story of how OkCredit had to lay off 70 employees 18 months ago due to rapid expansion and unsustainable costs.In his post, he candidly admitted the mistake, saying, “We were burning too much. Hired too fast.



It was our mistake. And we owned it.”Unlike many companies today, OkCredit treated the situation differently.

Pokharna and his team made sure to speak to each affected employee personally. They explained what went wrong, why the decision had to be made, and how they would support them moving forward.Representative image source: Unsplash“But look at what’s happening now – Over 120,000 people were laid off this year.

And many of them didn’t even get a call. Some found out through a blocked email. Some were just removed from Slack in the middle of the day.

That’s inhuman.”To ease the transition, the company provided a three-month notice period, offered job referrals, and assisted in securing new roles. As a result, 67 of the 70 affected employees found jobs before the notice period ended.

The remaining three were given two months of additional salary as support.“If you call someone ‘family’ while hiring them, treat them like family when letting them go too,” he wrote.Have a look at his full post here:This serves as a reminder of how empathy and responsibility should be at the forefront during difficult business decisions.

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