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BENGALURU (Reuters) – The Indian gym and wellness startup cure.fit has laid off more than 800 of its staff across the country and has permanently closed a number of fitness centers to cut costs amid the bigger coronavirus blockade in the world, sources familiar with the situation said. .
Founded by two former Flipkart executives in 2016 and backed by Singapore’s state investor Temasek Holdings, the company’s cult.fit business quickly attracted a huge fan base thanks to state-of-the-art group fitness sessions and endorsement of celebrities, opening centers in more than 130 locations across India.
The Bengaluru-based company closed all of its fitness centers at the start of the shutdown, but now decided not to reopen several in smaller cities, six sources aware of the events, including fitness trainers and center managers, told Reuters. .
Cure.fit, which also expanded to Dubai last June, has not said how many people it employs. According to a person who was part of the talent acquisition team, the company had approximately 5,000 employees across India, including those in its cure.fit and eat.fit units that offer medical services and healthy eating options.
The layoffs come from across the business, sources said.
Cure.fit declined to comment immediately.
“I can’t face my family, how will I survive when it’s unclear when this shutdown will end or when people will start hiring again?” Said Surjit Singh, a 27-year-old boxer from Kolkata of West Bengal who was worked as coach in Bangalore and joined the startup 11 months ago.
Other employees who were fired said the company planned to move all of its classes online. The app already offers virtual personal training sessions.
Cure.fit, founded by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, also launched a grocery delivery service in cities like Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai last month when India went into closure to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Around 100 of the former employees discussed what steps they could take in a WhatsApp group reviewed by Reuters, worried about being unemployed due to the ongoing blockade.
“We were asked to resign on Friday and all official accounts were blocked in a couple of hours,” said a fired employee, who did not want to be named for fear of repercussions.
“We are unable to contact our managers for clarification, they left it to us out of the blue and disappeared.”
Report by Chandini Monnappa in Bangalore; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
