Starstruck! indya.com to lose 35 pc staff

Anubha Ghosh and Kavitha Vivek in Bangalore

STAR Group, which has taken over the majority stake in the Internet portal indya.com, has decided to cut 35 per cent of the latter’s staff comprising of 180 people. This is the second time in the year that indya.com, originally promoted by the Microland Group, has slashed jobs.

Indya.com CEO Sunil Lulla told The Financial Express that this was a move towards rapidly building a profitable business by rationalising its activities and re-aligning its resources, as per market needs. However, the company has denied rumours of a complete shut down of the Bangalore office.

“The Internet is an evolving industry and business models are constantly tested. One needs to scale activities and resources as and when the situation so demands, to stay competitive in the long run. The current right sizing exercise affects 35 per cent of current jobs at indya.com,” Mr Lulla said.

The previous lay-offs reduced the staff strength by over 40 people or the then 20 per cent of the workforce. However, internal company sources claimed the figure to have crossed 50. The company said it had rightsized its activities and structure to align them realistically with its renewed business focus—to create and exploit new business opportunities on its way towards profitable leadership.

“Going forward, indya.com will pursue innovative business strategies to build compelling and interactive content for its users and build compatible relationships with its customers,” Mr Lulla added.