Meet CEO who laid off 70 staff, then helped them in getting new jobs, got 66 placed during notice period

Amid tech companies laying off employees in large numbers, a Bengaluru-based CEO has garnered immense praise for the human approach to layoffs. Taking to social media OkCredit CEO and founder Harsh Pokharna shared the experience on LinkedIn of laying off 70 staff while explaining how the company took care of the sensitive situation with the human approach.  

However, amid challenges, Pokharna said that the company handled the situation with care. “Eighteen months ago, we laid off 70 people. Here’s how it went: We were burning too much. Hired too fast. It was our mistake. And we owned it. It was one of the hardest things I’ve done as a founder. But we tried to do it the right way.” 

How Harsh Pokharna's OKCredit supported laid off employees

In his post, Pokharna explained how the company took various steps to help the employees after layoff among which they started with communicating about the situation with the employees first. “We had a conversation with each of the 70 employees and explained why they had to be let go,” he wrote. OKCredit gave a three-month notice period to employees for a smooth transition. Simultaneously, during the same period, the company assisted the staff in placing them in jobs, by providing them with referrals, job leads, and more.  

In his post, Pokharna explained the approach he adopted to help his employees. “Sixty-seven got placed before the notice period ended. For the three who didn’t, we gave two months’ extra salary.” Having a direct approach, CEO Harsh Pokharna believe in being in touch with employees and so criticises firms that straight off layoff employees by communicating this via email without first talking about this with them, “That’s inhuman. Yes, layoffs happen. But how you handle them says everything about your culture,” he asserted. 

Who is Harsh Pokharna? 

Harsh Pokharna, CEO of OKCredit, founded it in 2017 along with Gaurav Kunwar and Aditya Prasad. The firm offers its customers with a digital ledger app. He is a IIT Kanpur graduated where he studied mechanical engineering and worked at major tech companies like Flipkart, Intel Corporation, and Reliance Payment Solutions Ltd.