India-based online ticketing platform BookMyShow has laid off about 200 employees as the nationwide lockdown to curb the Covid-19 outbreak has battered demand for entertainment services in the country.
The move comes a year after the company trimmed 18% of its total workforce and implemented pay cuts of between 10% to 50% for the rest of its employees.
“Covid-19 has taught me many lessons and I learned another one today,” said Ashish Hemrajani, co-founder of BookMyShow in a statement on Twitter. “As we let go of 200 of the most incredibility talented and performance-driven individuals, each and everyone has messaged, thanking me for the opportunity, the love for [BookMyShow] and asking me if they could help ‘me’ in any way possible.”
Some industries, such as entertainment, hotels, and travel, have already bitten the bullet with a series of job cuts at the likes of Oyo, Hamlet, and MakeMyTrip, among others.
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In 2019, BookMyShow was on track to expand its business in Southeast Asia after it received an undisclosed amount of investment from Singapore’s Jungle Ventures. The startup entered Indonesia in mid-2016, and then extended its service to other countries in the region such as Singapore and Malaysia in 2019.