Online marketplace Meesho said it has recruited more than 150 candidates from college campuses during 2023 and plans to take in more than 200 people in 2024, raising hopes of a revival in hiring sentiment.
The SoftBank-backed company has hired for profiles such as technology and product development, analytics, customer experience, monetisation and finance. Non-tech roles like strategy and operations have witnessed an uptick in salary packages compared to last year.
“Meesho’s campus hiring has resumed on a significant scale, indicating the company’s strong trajectory in 2023 and robust road map for 2024,” said Ashish Kumar Singh, chief human resources officer, Meesho.
In April 2022, Meesho said it had downsized its grocery vertical and laid off about 150 employees. According to the media reports, the actual number of employees impacted at that time was about 400.
In May last year, the company laid off 251 employees, or 15 per cent of its workforce, in another round of job cuts at the e-commerce firm with an eye on profits and reduced costs. Vidit Aatrey, Meesho’s co-founder and chief executive officer, had then admitted "judgement errors in over-hiring" in a May 5 letter to his employees.
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But signalling changing fortunes, Meesho recently said its loss narrowed 48.42 per cent from Rs 3,251 crore in FY22 to Rs 1,675 crore in FY23. Revenue from operations for FY23 grew 77 per cent over the previous year to Rs 5,735 crore. This growth was achieved as the company continued to be the most downloaded shopping app in India in 2022 and 2023. There was an increased transaction frequency of its existing customers, a widening category mix and a redoubled focus on improving monetisation through various value-added seller services, the company said.
The company's consolidated revenues from operations for the first half of FY24 stood at Rs 3,521 crore (up 37 per cent year-on-year). The losses for the period were (Rs 141 crore), lower by 90 per cent Y-o-Y. The company also turned profitable in Q2 FY24.
Meesho also became the first horizontal e-commerce company to turn profitable in India in July 2023 and has continued to remain so. The company offers work-life balance support benefits such as annual holidays, earned and casual leaves, annual reset and recharge breaks, weddings, study, pet adoption, and infinite wellness leaves for critical illnesses coupled with flexible working.