One of India’s pioneering retailers Shoppers Stop has laid off 1100 employees on account of the pandemic. The organization has offered each employee 2 months salary as well as the possibility of re-hiring once the situation stabilizes. Due to the pandemic, many malls have remained shut, which has impacted store operations, forcing management to cut costs and let go of these employees. A person familiar with the matter stated that 1000 employees were from across stores and the rest were from the head office in Mumbai. “With a limitation on adding new stores in this situation, the size of our business is effectively reduced and, unfortunately, we need to adjust our cost base in such times,” the spokesperson said.

The news was first reported by The Economic Times newspaper.

Shoppers Stop had 7,500 employees, according to its December quarter earnings presentation.

The pandemic and prolonged lockdown, especially the closure of malls, has severely hit retailers.