Date:
December 18, 2024
The working population's fear of AI is now coming true. Paytm has cut nearly 1000 job positions as it automates its processes with AI.
latest layoff round. The layoffs have removed employees from multiple operational branches of Paytm. According to the Economic Times report, the main reason behind this layoff was to cut costs and realign publicly listed financial services to the new optimized strategy. The job cuts have occurred in months, affecting nearly 10% of the total employee count.
RBI’s latest amendments in the unsecured loans category have caused a shift in the backend, as the company is now removing services listed for retail and small-ticket consumers. Most job cuts have been reported in Paytm's lending business, which expanded as rapidly as it shrank. The platform will now focus aggressively on wealth management and insurance broking as its new profitable business model. The unsecured loans sanctioned under 50,000 will soon be closed as a service; hence, the employees behind to support the action are let go.
The company has revealed that it intends to save 10-15% of staff costs as it witnessed Artificial Intelligence overperforming the same roles. However, it plans to bring in nearly 15,000 new employment opportunities in the core payment business. AI-powered automation has helped the organization increase productivity while reducing operational costs. By the end of this Fiscal year, the company intends to reach its 10-15% reduction goal.
Back in 2021, the company decided to let go of 500 to 700 employees purely based on performance. The layoff came as a surprise backed by a short-term review that justified the reason behind it.
Thousands of users, industry veterans, and leaders have shared their views regarding this move by One97. The company is a continually loss-making company and can never be a multi-bagger with the same trend keeping up over the years. Such statements have floated across major social media platforms, leading to a steep downfall in the company's reputation.
The fear of Artificial Intelligence taking over a majority of human jobs is slowly coming true. With a unicorn like Paytm making the early move, the FinTech industry might follow on the same road, causing an expected surge in layoffs in 2024.
