ShareChat to trim workforce by 5% in performance-based downsizing

Bengaluru-based social media platform ShareChat is set to lay off around 5% of its workforce — or roughly 20 to 30 employees — following its annual performance review cycle, according to a Moneycontrol report.

The company currently employs between 530 and 550 people, and the planned reduction is part of a periodic assessment that identifies the bottom 3-4% of performers.

Despite ongoing cost-optimisation measures, ShareChat clarified that these exits are not related to a new round of cost-cutting.

Following these departures in January, the company's headcount will stand at about 500 — significantly lower than its peak of nearly 2,800 employees just a few years ago.

The upcoming exits mark the latest in a series of staff reductions; over the past two years, ShareChat has shed more than 850 employees across at least four layoff rounds. These include a 5% cutback in August 2024 after a bi-annual appraisal, a 200-person reduction in December 2023, and an earlier wave of over 600 layoffs in January 2023, the report added.

In parallel with the current layoffs, ShareChat continues to expand certain teams. It recently appointed ex-TikTok executive Nitin Jain as Chief Technology Officer, onboarded a new head of acquisition marketing, and plans to grow its acquisition marketing team by 50%.

Founded in 2015 by Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh, and Farid Ahsan, the company has weathered multiple industry upheavals—especially after a government ban on Chinese apps presented opportunities for Indian social media and short video platforms.