OYO hires, eBay fires, and Jabong restructures, movements that affected the startup world this week

From Donald Trump sweeping the US elections to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetising Rs 500 and 1,000 notes, the past week was filled with ground-breaking events.

While most of the Indian startup world seemed to be ambivalent towards the recent developments, the fintech space was celebrating the Prime Minister’s decision to devalue the country’s two highest currency denominations.

And why not? Within hours of the announcement, Paytm claimed to have registered a 200 percent hike in app downloads and an almost 250 percent surge in the number of transactions on its platform. Meanwhile, mobile payments company Freecharge saw a 12-fold surge in their customers’ wallet balances overnight.

Amidst all this intensity, the key HR shuffles of the week flew largely under the radar. From shutdowns and firing to power hires, here are the top personnel moves that made headlines this week:

eBay fires complete India team

On Wednesday, US-based e-commerce giant eBay fired their entire product and technology team in India, excepting 15 employees who will reportedly move to the US. The news was confirmed by officials at eBay.

This is the second round of layoffs within eBay, with the first round being conducted last year, involving close to 350 employees in India across development centres in Chennai and Bengaluru losing their jobs.

Jabong restructures, starts to see resignations

E-commerce firm Jabong, which got acquired by Flipkart-owned Myntra earlier this year, has witnessed two exits among its senior level executives.

Reported by Moneycontrol, Chief Marketplace Officer (CMO) Ranjan Kant and HR Head Deepa Chadha bid adieu to the company. According to the report, the operations and HR teams will report to Chief Operating Officer Muralikrishnan B, who will also continue to be lead on the product and technology teams and seller experience.

Further, seller acquisitions will reportedly merge under the marketplace team.

Post the acquisition, former chief executive officer Sanjeev Mohanty had also left the e-commerce venture to join Levi Strauss & Co. as their managing director for South Asia.

Porter appoints former CEO of Planet M as an advisor

Intra-city logistics company Porter announced the appointment of Subir Ghosh, the former CEO of Planet M Retail Ltd, as an advisor to the company.

Having more than three decades of experience, Subir was a part of the startup team at The Mobile Store, where he conceptualised and launched the first 200 stores of the brand.

According to the founders of Porter, Subir’s vast experience of setting up operational metrics and driving substantial growth with consumer-oriented businesses will be an invaluable asset for Porter’s efforts to imbibe industry-best practices.

OYO rooms get a new CTO

It was reported earlier this week that hotel aggregator OYO Rooms appointed Anil Goel as their new Chief Technology Officer. Having a vast experience of more than 20 years in the technology space, Anil served as the global head of technology for the consumer returns and reverse logistics businesses at Amazon.com.

Truecaller gets a new India head

Swedish company Truecaller on Tuesday announce the appointment of Tejinder Gill as its head of India operations. Tejinder is set to also take over the role of Vice President of sales at the company.

Being a part of the team that handled the launch of LinkedIn in India, Tejinder joined Truecaller two months ago. In his new mandate, Tejinder will be responsible for growing the company’s business in the Indian market.

TCS gets new interim Chairman

In a landmark appointment, Ishaat Hussain was appointed as the new interim Chairman of the Tata group’s IT firm TCS in place of Cyrus Mistry.

Apart from being on the board of Tata Sons Ltd, he is also Chairman of Voltas Ltd and Tata Sky Ltd. Moreover, he also sits on the boards of several Tata companies, such as Tata Steel, Tata Industries, Tata Teleservices, and Titan Industries Limited.

Just last month, in a dramatic move, Cyrus Mistry was removed from his position as Chairman of Tata Sons and was replaced by Ratan Tata.

These were the events that marked the week on the HR front, and while paling in comparison with the time’s political shocks, they are undoubtedly of significance to the Indian business environment. Watch this space for more updates on all the latest personnel shuffles of the country’s startup scene.

(Image Credit: The Week)