Flipkart CEO assures employees there will be no layoffs, salary cuts

At a time when companies are bracing for tough measures to mitigate the impact of losses due to the lockdown, Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy has assured employees that there will be no salary cuts or lay-offs.

Krishnamurthy, who held a first-of-its-kind virtual town hall meeting with over 8,000 employees on Friday, also said incentives would be given as decided and there wouldn’t be any impact on them. He emphasised that the company is honouring all jobs offered, including the internships.

“A crisis is a great time to show your statesmanship, commitment, and character. I look up to each one of you to think long-term. What we do now will build us for the future. We are honouring all commitments, campus placements, and looking at innovative ways of virtual inductions and on-boarding,” Krishnamurthy told the employees.

He told them the key is for all employees to remain safe and healthy, and urged them to be more responsible. “Don’t be opportunistic. Don’t short-change your partners and vendors. They are key to the progress of e-commerce, and trust is critical. This is the time to contribute to nation-building,” said Krishnamurthy.

One employee also asked whether the company should continue with plans for the festive sale event in May, to which the CEO replied that employees should work with category leaders to prioritise what is important. “If there is an opportunity to serve consumers and offer them value, then we must. However, I don’t want to be in a celebratory mood because after the lockdown it won’t be the same,” said Krishnamurthy.

Flipkart competes with Amazon and Reliance’s e-commerce venture JioMart to tap the online commerce market, which is expected to touch $200 billion by 2028 from $30 billion in 2018.

India seems to have entered Stage-3 of the outbreak. Until March 16, consumer retail sales and walk-ins did not see much dip compared to last year, which could have been due to festive shopping related to Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, and Navratri, according to a study by Capillary Technologies.