Tata Digital is preparing to implement large-scale layoffs at Tata Neu as part of an extensive strategic restructuring under its new CEO, Sajith Sivanandan. The company is expected to trim more than half of the platform’s workforce as it moves away from its earlier expansive, GMV-focused model and shifts towards a profitability-first approach.
This restructuring marks the third major reset for Tata Neu since its launch and the first under Sivanandan, who took charge in September as the company’s third CEO since 2019. Previously President of Jio Mobile Digital Services, Sivanandan has already set in motion significant centralisation efforts, bringing digital marketing mandates from Titan, Tata Motors, IHCL and Tata Consumer Products under Tata Digital to strengthen its role as the group’s core digital and customer engagement hub.
In parallel, strategic reviews are also underway at BigBasket and Croma. At BigBasket, priority has shifted sharply to scaling BB Now, its instant delivery arm that is competing head-on with Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart. With quick-commerce increasingly defined by tighter delivery timelines and improved efficiencies, BigBasket faces mounting pressure to enhance BB Now’s performance while leveraging its deep supply-chain strengths.
Croma, meanwhile, is consolidating operations by shuttering underperforming stores and reinforcing its identity as an offline-first retailer with digital enablement, rather than contesting scale with major ecommerce marketplaces Amazon and Flipkart.
Sources cited by the report say Tata Digital’s revised roadmap will concentrate on three central pillars: financial services, group-wide marketing solutions, and a unified loyalty ecosystem that integrates all Tata rewards programmes into a single structure. The shift aims to unlock monetisation opportunities across the conglomerate and rationalise digital spending.
Tata Digital has not issued any official comment on the restructuring. The company continues to grapple with Tata Neu’s challenges since its debut in April 2022, after multiple leadership transitions and evolving strategic directions disrupted momentum. The latest transition followed the exit of former CEO Naveen Tahilyani, who had earlier succeeded long-time TCS executive Pratik Pal.
Financially, Tata Digital posted a 13.8 per cent decline in operating revenue for FY25 to ₹32,188 crore, though net losses narrowed to ₹828 crore from ₹1,201 crore in FY24. The new leadership team must now stabilise the business while repositioning the troubled super-app on a more sustainable and scalable foundation.
Source – https://www.bwpeople.in/article/tata-digital-to-slash-jobs-at-tata-neu-580675