MakeMyTrip founders to draw zero salary
BENGALURU: MakeMyTrip’s co-founders — executive chairman Deep Kalra and CEO Rajesh Magow — said that they will be on zero salary from April, while the leadership team will also take a 50% salary cut. The move comes as India’s largest online travel agency braces for a crushing hit to business from lockdowns across the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Nasdaq-listed firm said it has started reviewing expenses, even as it continues to “sharply reduce variable costs” like advertising & marketing besides “expenses relating to the functioning of our offices and other establishments” as areas of cost-cuts. MakeMyTrip also indicated that it will have to lay off employees in a bid to reduce fixed costs. “Being an online company, the majority of our costs are variable. However, the situation demands that we take a hard look at all our fixed costs, including people costs,” said Kalra and Magow in a letter to employees. MakeMyTrip had a total of 3,450 employees as of March 2019, according to the company’s filings.
The company said business has come to a “virtual standstill” due to a fall in bookings, increasing cancellations and, finally, the ban on domestic travel as well. The developments follow a record October-December quarter for MakeMyTrip, when its gross bookings jumped 19% to $1.7 billion, while losses also halved to $11 million. But since late February, the company has started seeing a fall in bookings, especially for the busy summer holiday season.
The Nasdaq-listed firm said it has started reviewing expenses, even as it continues to “sharply reduce variable costs” like advertising & marketing besides “expenses relating to the functioning of our offices and other establishments” as areas of cost-cuts. MakeMyTrip also indicated that it will have to lay off employees in a bid to reduce fixed costs. “Being an online company, the majority of our costs are variable. However, the situation demands that we take a hard look at all our fixed costs, including people costs,” said Kalra and Magow in a letter to employees. MakeMyTrip had a total of 3,450 employees as of March 2019, according to the company’s filings.
The company said business has come to a “virtual standstill” due to a fall in bookings, increasing cancellations and, finally, the ban on domestic travel as well. The developments follow a record October-December quarter for MakeMyTrip, when its gross bookings jumped 19% to $1.7 billion, while losses also halved to $11 million. But since late February, the company has started seeing a fall in bookings, especially for the busy summer holiday season.