New Delhi: Hospitality firm OYO is granting employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) worth a total of around Rs 130 crore to all its furloughed employees impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as part of its efforts to minimise the disruption being experienced by them, an internal e-mail from its founder Ritesh Agarwal said on Monday.
On April 8, OYO founder and Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal had said in a letter and video message that the company will place a certain number of employees on furloughs or temporary leaves, globally.
According to the sources, the number of furloughed employees globally could run in thousands. The company, however, did not share any details regarding the number of the impacted employees.
In an internal town hall note to the impacted employees, Agarwal on Monday said that while he hoped that the company can get as many employees back, he is cognisant of the practical reality that the uncertainty around the COVID-19 situation will continue for sometime.
"I would like to recognise your contributions and this love and passion for OYO by making you a co-owner and shareholder of the company. I would like to inform you that all impacted OYOpreneurs would be eligible for ESOPs worth around Rs 130 crore ( around USD 18 million)," he added.
Details on employees' specific grant will be shared on e-mail separately, which will be detailed as per their band and geographies, he added.
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"In addition, we also understand that some of you may already have stock options. For those employees, we are dropping the one-year cliff on the vesting of stock options for everyone we have hired in the past year. This will ensure that everyone departing, regardless of how long they have been with OYO, can become a shareholder," Agarwal said.