Gojek layoffs 430 employees, two services closed

Last updated on May 6th, 2021 at 09:10 am

Indonesian ride-hailing and payment firm Gojek announced for the layoffs on their organization also the partners this week.

Gojek Indonesia laid off their 430 employees. Not only that, but the decacorn startup also closed some of its services.

There are two services that are closed, namely GoLife which includes GoMassage and GoClean services, and GoFood Festival which is GoFood’s food court network in a number of locations.

Both services will be stopped on July 27, 2020, after experiencing a significant decline since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The number of employees who were laid off (equivalent to 9% of total employees), where most came from divisions related to the GoLife and GoFood Festival.

Gojek’s management mentioned that the employee’s layoff decision was the result of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

“This decision was taken based on an evaluation of the macroeconomic situation and changes in community behavior that became more alert to activities involving physical contact or activities that did not allow distance,” wrote Gojek on the announcement letter, Wednesday, June 24.

For GoClean and GoMassage partners who were directly affected by this decision, Gojek has prepared a special program, namely the Covid-19 Partner Solidarity Program.

The program is to improve skills through online training with the aim of being able to equip the skills of the affected partners in the future.

While for Gojek employees who are laid off, Gojek prepared several benefits, ranging from severance pay referred to above the standard set by the government and an extension of health insurance until December 31, 2020.

While online motorcycle taxi driver (ojol) Gojek is not directly affected by this decision. Because Gojek will still focus on three core businesses given the very broad impact of services in the community.

The core businesses that Gojek will focus on in the future are transportation (GoRide), food delivery services (GoFood), and electronic money (GoPay).

Gojek’s Co-CEO Andre Soelistyo confirmed that the decision to reduce the number of employees was the only one made by Gojek in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic situation.