Zomato, the food delivery giant known for its red-clad riders zipping through Indian streets, has reportedly laid off around 600 customer support associates. The move, as per a report by Moneycontrol, comes within just a year of bringing them onboard under a special hiring initiative.
The company had launched something called the Zomato Associate Accelerator Program (ZAAP) last year. The idea? Bring in about 1,500 people on contractual terms, mostly in customer support, and offer them a shot at moving into permanent roles across various teams like sales, operations, supply chain, and so on — all within a year.
But things haven’t quite gone that way.
Many of these associates were said to be hoping for role transitions or contract renewals. Instead, a large number did not get their contracts extended at the end of the term. While the company hasn’t issued a detailed public statement yet, speculation is that this downsizing ties into Zomato’s shifting focus and cost-cutting measures.
Zomato’s food delivery business, its original bread and butter, appears to be hitting a plateau in terms of growth. And then there’s Blinkit — the company’s quick commerce venture, which delivers groceries and essentials. While fast delivery is hot right now, the Blinkit business is rumoured to be racking up some serious losses, putting added pressure on the company’s bottom line.
Another angle being talked about is Zomato’s increasing reliance on automation. The company has been leaning more and more on artificial intelligence to handle customer queries. A recent launch called Nugget, an AI-powered support tool for businesses, is said to be handling over 15 million interactions every month across Zomato, Blinkit, and Hyperpure (Zomato’s B2B supply arm).
So, in a way, it looks like the bots might be taking over some of the jobs — quite literally.
This isn’t Zomato’s first major round of layoffs either. The last one came in December 2022, when about 100 people were let go. This time, the scale is six times larger.
Even as Zomato trims down internally, CEO Deepinder Goyal is putting his money elsewhere. Last month, he reportedly invested $20 million in LAT Aerospace — a new venture co-founded by Surobhi Das, who was previously Zomato’s COO.
Despite these internal shake-ups, Zomato’s market cap stood at ₹1.83 lakh crore as of April 1. The company’s stock closed at ₹203.35 on Tuesday — holding fairly steady, though it's hard to say what lies ahead.
With Zomato pushing harder into AI and its quick commerce arm still bleeding cash, the company seems to be in a phase of transition.
