Zomato, the Indian food-delivery giant, is under scrutiny following allegations made by an employee on LinkedIn, who claimed that staff are being dismissed abruptly—without notice or consideration of personal circumstances. The post, first reported by LiveMint, adds to a series of similar accounts that have sparked debates about corporate ethics in India’s tech sector.
The AllegationsShashank Shukla, who joined Zomato in February 2025 as a Key Account Manager, posted that the company is engaging in “unethical removals” of employees, including himself. He wrote: “unethical removals of employees are going on here without even consent of employees” and added that “No matter what the situation is within your family, no one will understand… they will fire you out”
According to LiveMint, Shukla also claimed to have escalated concerns internally via email before making them public, and that Zomato did not respond to requests for comment.
Media reports earlier in 2025 documented large-scale layoffs at Zomato, particularly under its ZAAP (Zomato Associate Accelerator Program) scheme. Nearly 600 customer support staff were reportedly let go within a year—some without contract renewal, others terminated abruptly, often amid a shift to AI-powered customer service platforms like “Nugget.”
In some cases, affected staff were offered compensation equivalent to one month’s salary but were dismissed without notice, citing reasons such as poor punctuality or performance. The layoffs spanned offices in Gurugram and Hyderabad.
The controversy deepened with several Reddit posts from individuals claiming dismissal without warning. One such post read: “Today, I was fired from Zomato ... being late by an average of just 28 minutes over the past three months. No warning, no opportunity to improve—just a cold termination … over 300 employees have been fired under similar circumstances.” (Reddit).
Another contributor shared: “Zomato promised us career growth … Then, out of nowhere, they fired 500+ of us. No warning. No accountability. Just a cold, ‘We never promised anything.’” (Reddit).
These accounts paint a pattern of abrupt dismissals, alleged misuse of performance metrics, and concerns over employee fairness and transparency.
Zomato’s Response and Industry OutlookAs of now, Zomato has not issued any comment in response to these allegations, including requests from LiveMint, Hindustan Times, NDTV, and other outlets covering the layoffs.
The series of reports and individual testimonies have drawn scrutiny on corporate practices in India’s startup ecosystem—particularly the reliance on automation and ambiguous performance data to justify sudden job cuts.