In a bid to sustain in the market during the coronavirus pandemic, businesses are taking in drastic measures like salary cuts and layoffs. Renowned fashion platform, Zilingo did the same recently, however, claims that the motive was not in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Sources cite that the Zilingo has announced layoff of around 5% of its employees working worldwide. Elaborating on which, a company spokesperson said that the firm is currently focusing on its core business plans in Asia as well as in emerging markets, and on growing its platform. This change in motive follows Zilingo’s recently shift towards a business-to-business model.

The spokesperson added that this approach had led the company to take some tough decisions, which includes laying off some of its employees, mostly as some of its functions became redundant.

Zilingo claims that the restructuring measures were not in response to the present Covid-19 pandemic, as planning for layoff had already began several months ago prior recent announcement.

For the record, in the year 2015, Zilingo set foot in the market as a Bangkok-based online marketplace. Since then it has expanded to offer a range of solutions for fashion merchants, which includes inventory and procurement management, payments processing, and business financing.

In 2019, the company raised $226 million from investment companies Temasek Holdings and EDBI, as well as existing investors like Burda Principal Investments, Sequoia Capital, and Sofina. In addition to this, the company’s valuation was raised to about $970 million following a series D funding.

Reportedly, in October 2019, Zilingo revealed its plans to invest $100 million to expand its fashion supply chain business in the U.S. Earlier that summer, the company had started its operations in the country. Commenting on which, Zilingo said the move was in line with its accelerated growth plans focused across new markets like Europe, Australia, and the Middle East.

Source Credit: https://www.techinasia.com/zilingo-layoffs-restructuring