After Airlift, Swvl to let go 32 per cent workforce, limit operations

The provider of tech-enabled mass transit solutions, Swvl announced that it is implementing a portfolio optimization plan to boost sales performance while lowering its expenses as a way to accelerate its path to increase profitability and gain a tremendous reputation by the next year.

The company’s big move comes just days after Airlift announced that it was reducing headcount by 31 per cent across all countries and limiting categories on the platform. Also, the company has withdrawn from several markets, including Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Pretoria.

Swvl aims to cut its workforce by 32 per cent, according to the company’s official press release. Roles that have been automated as a result of investments in the Company’s engineering, product, and support operations will be targeted for reductions. Swvl intends to provide monetary, non-monetary, and job placement assistance to assist specific employees in transitioning to new responsibilities.

Swvl’s Transport as a Service (TaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) businesses are both rapidly growing. Swvl’s TaaS business provides technology-enabled transportation for corporates, schools, universities, industrial facilities, airlines, and other institutional clients via its asset-light marketplace. They presently have over 500 active accounts on four continents, with a monthly salary of over $5 million.

According to the company’s LinkedIn site, it employs over 1,330 people. Around 400 employees will lose their employment as a result of the mobility company laying off nearly 30 per cent of its workforce.

Tech startups, both private and public, have had to face a reckoning in recent months, with their stock prices plummeting. An economic slump has impacted company finances, forcing them to make cost-cutting decisions, the most important of which is laying off staff.

The Dubai-based startup’s restructuring joins a lengthy list of global cross-stage cutbacks in what has been a difficult month for tech workers. According to statistics, over 15,000 tech workers have lost their jobs in the United States alone. Multiple Companies including Klarna, Getir, Gorillas, and Bolt (the payments startup) have fired employees, while Snap, Twitter, and Instacart have halted or stopped hiring entirely.