After Paycuts, Some Indian Startups Start Restoring Salaries

Most internet companies ranging from Grofers, Zomato, UpGrad, and Ixigo have begun rolling back the salary cuts that had once taken ground amid the lockdown. There are several others in the queue like e-commerce platform Snapdeal, which is now operating at pre-Covid-19 levels that have rolled out increments and also have reinstated bonus. 

At a time when the Indian economy has gradually begun opening up, although, under strict norms, startups have begun to reinstate the salaries that were being slashed in the April-June quarter. It was also being reported that during that time, many startups had been issuing additional employee stock options, in a move to compensate the salary cuts during the economic crisis. 

Grofers had told a national publication that they are in a stable position now, and because of that they have reinstated salaries from July 1st. In a blogpost, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal mentioned that original salaries have been restored and the chief executive of online travel operator Ixigo said that initially things were a little rainy, however, he is of the opinion that now that things are in a much stable position, and there are lesser chances for it going south, and they decided to bring back the salaries to what it was before. 

Amid this, Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl told a national publication that Snapdeal has reinstated increments and bonuses for their employees, adding that if things are going well, the team must be included. Experts always held the view that drastic changes in management decisions makes people much cautious before joining a startups, as things are always changing and uncertain. Express Computer reached out to several HR firms, employees, and industry observers that have been raising questions about hiring practices. While some paint a positive picture, others uphold an air of uncertainty. 

The Takeaway?

The Indian startup ecosystem has been called the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, which is majorly because of the continuous innovations that have been happening in the space. This perseverance perhaps explains why till date companies like Byju’s. Flipkart (both of which were startups at a time) have fetched funding. Talking on the same lines, Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms have been rasing a plethora of funding, only explaining and reinstating the faith on the startup clan. It’s doesn’t need to be mentioned separately that things are difficult and tough indeed, yet once a startup founder Express Computer once interviewed had said, “Hang in there, it’s all going to be alright soon.”