'Have self respect, don't fleece company': Amid job cuts, Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal warns employees over poor attendance. Read full letter

Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has reportedly sent a strongly-worded letter to his employees regarding office attendance. In the stern company-wide email, Aggarwal reprimanded employees for their lack of discipline and urged them to prioritize workplace commitments. The email, which has since gone viral on social media, has sparked significant discussion online.

This incident comes amid reports of Ola cutting 500 jobs in a bid to streamline operations and improve profitability. The company has been focusing on reducing redundancies and optimizing its workforce to enhance operational efficiency.

During a recent post-quarterly earnings call, Aggarwal highlighted that the company's operating expenses had decreased quarter-on-quarter. He stated, “As we continue to scale distribution, revenue will keep growing while the operating expenses are likely to remain flat or even decline over the next few quarters.”

Bhavish Aggarwal's Email to Employees

Aggarwal’s email outlined his disappointment in no uncertain terms. The letter stated:

"Hi all,

I've been going through our attendance data. It is shocking that a lot of people have very poor attendance.

I would imagine everyone has the basic self-respect to not fleece the company by not even turning up for work. It's even disrespectful to those colleagues who genuinely work hard and contribute. And we don't have any WFH policy except for genuine needs.

Monday onwards, a more stringent attendance expectation will start. And those of you who have misused the freedom so far, HR will be having a conversation with you. The best excuse I've heard so far is that the facial recognition system data is wrong. Let's not insult basic intelligence.

Come to work, do good work, and feel a part of Ola's mission.

Bhavish"

Ola Electric Plans Aggressive Expansion

Meanwhile, Ola Electric has announced plans to significantly expand its company-owned store network. The company aims to increase its store count from the current 800 to 4,000 by December 2024.

“All the newly launched stores will be co-located with service facilities, strengthening the company’s service network across the country,” Ola Electric stated.

Commenting on the expansion, Aggarwal said, “With our wide D2C network and the touchpoints under our ‘network partner programme,’ we will cover the entire country beyond tier-I and tier-2 cities.”

Under the network partner programme, Ola Electric plans to onboard 10,000 partners across sales and service by the end of 2025.