OYO Hotels and Homes may lay off 150-200 people from its sales teams across the country, as per an ET report. About 60 salespeople in Oyo’s New Delhi and Gururgram offices were the first to be laid off and have been handed the pink slip this week.

The report adds that a similar number is in the process of being let go in other locations including Mumbai and Pune. The employees being laid off include executives to managers and are being given a one-month notice period, as per a person familiar with the developments.

In response to the report, OYO did not confirm or deny the developments but stated that the company follows a performance-oriented grading system and singles out a small group of employees – about 0.5% – every month across functions and markets for not meeting expectations and targets.

An OYO spokesperson added, “OYO India is on a strong growth trajectory and we, as an organization, are witnessing 4.5X year-on-year growth. We are able to achieve this feat by an ever-growing and passionate team of 9,000+ OYOpreneurs in India, including our 2,500+ strong sales team.”

The recent layoffs could be linked to business and operations getting affected because of disputes between OYO and some hotel partners. In June, there were also reports of the company planning to lay off 1,000 employees from the development team of its Chinese subsidiary OYO Jiudian, but a company spokesperson had refuted the claims.

At the same time, the company is gung ho on expansion and recently announced that it will strengthen its workforce in India by adding 3,000+ OYOpreneurs over a course of six months (H1 2020). The development is aligned with the hospitality company's commitment towards investing $200 Mn by 2019-end in India & South Asia business, as part of its efforts to further double down on its expansion plans, improve customer experience and ensure an increase in continued asset owner success. In this respect, it also appointed Dr. Mandar Vaidya as the Chief Executive Officer for Southeast Asia and the Middle East as it continues to invest in and attract world-class leadership, as part of its ongoing focus to drive accelerated growth in two of its high potential markets - Southeast Asia and the Middle East.