Swvl, the mass transit and shared mobility provider is cutting off its workforce by a third. According to Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Youssef Salem, while speaking to Bloomberg, the lay off will affect 400 people.
The move according to Swvl is part of the company’s efforts to turn cash flow positive by next year.
”Effective today, May 30, 2022, we are optimizing our operations in some of our markets while reducing our workforce. The reduction follows an extensive evaluation of team redundancy and how this complements our strategy. ” a letter sent to Swvl employees by CEO Mostafa Kandil on May 30 reads.
”We believe that Swvl has reached such a level of success only because of the team, and we are also sure that Swvl will continue to get stronger.”
In addition to the layoffs, Swvl has also announced other measures including voluntary salary deductions from the top management team, reduction of current office spaces, freezing our current hiring program, freezing travel and accommodation expenses as well as tying expenditures to essential business requirements.
”Today, with the current global economic downturn, as much as we did everything we could to put people first, we now know that we are not able to keep everyone unimpacted. We know we have to make tough decisions in order to prioritize profitability over growth to ensure that Swvl thrives once we are on the other side of this.” the letter reads.
The announcement comes just two months after Swvl was officially listed on the NASDAQ stock market in New York.
The public listing, the company said will open more avenues for further investment in the company and allow it to scale its operations in its existing markets including Kenya and beyond.
In Kenya, Swvl has also continued to expand its Swvl Travel offering and plies routes to over 10 destinations with plans to expand further. The company has 100 people directly employed in the country and works with over 500 bus owners that have partnered with Swvl.
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