Hospitality unicorn OYO Hotels & Homes said it has promoted four key employees to its senior leadership team in India.
This follows OYO’s decision to extend the furloughs of its employees till the end of February 2021, and give them the option to voluntarily separate from the company, as its business remains hit because of the coronavirus pandemic.
OYO said 70% of its furloughed employee base have opted for a voluntary separation, while 28% have chosen to stick on and go for leave with limited benefits (LwLB).
Globally, the hospitality business continues to suffer because of muted travel appetite amid the pandemic.
The recent leadership elevations include Ankit Gupta, who joined the company last year as chief operating officer (COO) of OYO’s Frontier Business and now has been promoted as its chief operating officer (CEO).
Harshit Vyas who was earlier the chief business officer of OYO has been made COO, India and South Asia, franchise business.
Abhinav Ankur has been promoted as chief strategy and transformation officer of OYO, and Anuj Bhatnagar has been is now chief finance officer (CFO).
In their new roles, Gupta will take charge of OYO Workspaces, Vyas will continue to work closely with OYO India chief executive Rohit Kapoor, to help the company recover faster from covid impact.
Ankur will lead OYO’s human resources function for India and South Asia, while Bhatnagar will see all business finance heads for OYO’s Franchise, Weddingz, Frontier and Workspaces verticals report to him.
“At OYO, we have always worked towards nurturing meritocracy across levels and are proud to have resilient, robust and diversified leaders. The role enhancement for Ankit, Harshit, Abhinav and Anuj are further steps in this direction. Their inspiring leadership in the pre-Covid times helped us drive sustainable business growth in the region. When the pandemic started, they helped OYO balance several priorities towards our customers, partners and colleagues and respond to the crisis,” said Rohit Kapoor.
Last week, OYO appointed Tejal Patil as senior legal Advisor for India and South Asia.
Oyo-preneurs in India, a term the company uses to address its employees, were earlier asked to go on leave with limited benefits (LwLB) for four months till 31 August, 2020.
Recently, OYO’s impacted employees took to social media to criticise the company for not having provided adequate compensation to its staff, during pandemic period.
For employees who choose to extend their furloughs, the company provided them with health insurance coverage, financial assistance for school education and vaccination allowance. Furloughed employees were also provided support for better career opportunities with Oyo’s ‘Project Outreach’ programme.
This article was first published on livemint.com
