
In the most recent update, as part of a massive reorganisation effort across its engineering verticals, Ola Group, which includes the ride-hailing platform and Ola Electric, may eliminate up to 200 technical jobs, according to sources. This effort has been started to focus more on its R&D facilities for the development of its mobility business.
Ola Cars, the group used car division was shut down along with Ola Dash, the commerce website, for the purpose of restructuring the entire business in an effort to provide more towards the development of the two-wheeler electric motor division and to pivot its end-to-end electric mobility company. Ola Electric stated in a statement that its decision to “minimise duplication and develop a robust lateral structure that reinforces important roles and functions” will directly affect 10% of its staff of over 2,000 engineers.
Ola’s software engineers will be the majority affected by the move, as their skill set is expected to become somewhat obsolete given the company’s new goals as it wants to enhance its focus on “non-software engineering sectors.”
Ola laying off its engineers seems a rather drastic step with Ola Electric’s sales declining, in August the business sold 3,421 electric two-wheelers, down from 3,862 in July. Many senior executives have also left the company ahead of the restructuring. But on the other hand Bhavish Agarwal, Founder of Ola Cabs has laid down his ambition to enter the electric cars market by the end of 2024.
Ola currently commands close to 6.8% of the market for electric two-wheelers, a considerable decline from the high volumes it had seen at the start of the fiscal year as it began shipping its Ola S1 Pro. In terms of sales numbers, it has surpassed formerly dominant leaders like Hero Electric and Okinawa by that point. Ola Electric is now ranked third in the market, down from first.
Ola had also promised continuous development of technology and in this context, Ola had earlier declared its intentions to invest 100 million dollars in new tech research with cutting-edge engineering in Coventry, United Kingdom.