Dubai-based ride-sharing company SWVL has revealed it will lay off nearly one-third of its workforce in order to achieve profitability.
According to the firm’s LinkedIn profile, the company currently has over 1,330 employees, which means around 400 will be let go.
Just two months ago, SWVL went public through merging with special purpose acquisition company Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital. The company was originally listed at $10 per share, but has since traded between $4 and $8 per share.
The layoffs also follow SWVL purchasing UK transit company Zeelo for $100 million, which is one of five acquisitions the firm has conducted in the last year.
As the economic downturn continues to impact the revenue and operations of companies worldwide, some have taken to layoffs in order to mitigate their costs and alleviate risk of a potential recession.
In the U.S., over 15,000 technology professionals have lost their jobs, while corporations like Meta and Twitter are slowing their hiring processes down.
In SWVL’s case, the company hopes that the layoffs will help them turn a profit in the next year.
“The planned layoffs will impact teams responsible for functions that have been automated following investment in engineering, product and support functions,” SWVL’s statement said. “SWVL plans to provide monetary, non-monetary and job placement support to help transition certain of its employees to new roles.”
