Two Bengaluru-based founders of a fintech app ‘Fam’ on Wednesday (August 2) announced that the firm has laid off more than a dozen employees citing a shift in focus from hyper-growth to sustainability. The co-founders took it to social media and expressed their willingness to extend a helping hand to 18 affected employees to find new jobs.
Sambhav Jain and Kush Taneja, co-founders of Fam, asked recruiters to get in touch for the relevant profiles and referrals. Sambhav Jain wrote a heartfelt tweet and acknowledged the difficulty of letting people go, particularly in a people-first organization like Fam, where emotional connections are strong.
‘Difficult’ decision
Calling it a ‘difficult’ decision for the ‘people-first’ organisation, Jain wrote, “One of the most difficult things to do as a founder is to let people go. Today was a tough day as we had to let go 18 members of the Fam across functions. Parting ways is never easy, especially for a people-first organisation like ours, where everyone is emotionally connected.”
In a series of tweets, Jain explained how despite building a passionate team, the company’s altered direction prevented them from offering roles that could support personal growth. However, the fintech app’s founder emphasised that the laid-off employees have impeccable abilities to achieve great things elsewhere.
On the other hand, the second co-founder, Kush Taneja also took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his sadness over the latest development. He also expressed gratitude for the contributions made by the departing team members and urged potential recruiters to reach out if they were searching for talented individuals.
Mixed response from netizens
However, their appeal received a mixed response from netizens. While multiple recruiters enquired about the profiles of the laid-off employees, many users questioned the company’s claim of being “people-first” when resorting to layoffs. Netizens also expressed their concerns over company expecting passion from a team that can be laid off without any fault of their own.
“As a business, people are hired and fired but don’t call yourself ‘people-first’ or ‘family’ if the first thing you do when funding shrinks is firing people…a Family doesn’t throw out its members when ration is less,” wrote user Abhijeet Kaushal (@Abhikau04787027).
“Is it fair to expect passion from your team when they can get laid off for no fault of theirs? And then build the same passion for their next role? Commenting on the overuse of ‘passion’ in corporate speak,” added another user Sidhdharth Shah (@sid_shah10).