Tech3 | Flipkart says no hikes for senior staff; The edtech VC who is long on India, and more

One good thing: Double digit hike incoming for India Inc. Salaries in India are expected to increase 10.3% in 2023, despite concerns about economic volatility, according to a Aon survey.

• This increase could be due to high attrition rates which stood at 21.4% in 2022, it said.

In today’s newsletter:

• No hikes for senior staff, says Flipkart
• The edtech VC who is long on India
• $150M seed valuation for ex-Nazara CEO’s startup

No hikes for senior staff, says Flipkart

The Indian e-commerce sector is expected to offer the highest salary hikes in 2023. However, one of the leading domestic players doesn't seem to be following that route, much to the dismay of its employees.

Driving the news: At Flipkart, it’s one of those times when the seniors have to take one for the team.?

• Nearly 5,000 of the company's senior management won't get a salary increment this year, according to the company's latest move to not give a hike to employees at Grade 10 level and above.?

The austerity measure will however not hurt 70 percent of employees, the company said.?

Silver linings

It’s not all gloomy for the top 30 percent of employees, since they will still get their bonuses and employee stock options (ESOPs) like everyone else at the company.

• Flipkart had earlier said it will buy back employee stock options worth about $700 million from employees, which is still on track.

The ESOP payout will however take a few more months to happen as the paperwork for the Flipkart-PhonePe separation is still in progress.

Prioritising profitability

Of course, the decision to do away with hikes for nearly 5,000 employees is to cut costs and focus on profitability in a gloomy macro environment.

• In September, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy had said they are cutting down spending across new experiments, capex, and mergers & acquisitions to preserve cash.

Earlier this week, Flipkart parent Walmart said that the Bengaluru-based e-commerce platform is improving its contribution margins as investments made in the last few years have started to bear fruit.

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