Data from the layoff.fyi aggregator report states that the number of employees in the world affected by the layoffs reached 15 thousand people in May.
However, in the midst of this storm of layoffs, an ERP software provider company, HashMicro, is actually carrying out a fairly massive employee recruitment process.
Lusiana as Business Development Director and one of the founders of HashMicro, stated that the phenomenon of the layoff storm was generally caused by reduced funding for startup companies by investors.
“Indeed, there are many factors, but what we see today, the main factor for the emergence of this phenomenon is because investors who fund these startups, especially from various venture capitals, have begun to minimize funding. This is due to several factors, such as rising interest rates, rising inflation, and the startup itself which has not recorded a net profit so that cash flow becomes unstable," said Lusiana to the media, Tuesday (22/6/2022).
HashMicro itself was not affected by the storm of layoffs and instead strengthened. This can happen due to the implementation of the right business strategy.
"From the start, HashMicro has focused on building a scalable business model without compromising our main goal, namely profitability, so that we can manage the company's finances independently and not completely depend on funding from investors," said Lusiana.
In addition, HashMicro also implements another business strategy, namely focusing on product-market fit. Lusiana explained that HashMicro is focused on delivering the key solutions that companies in their target market need.
“Focus on developing specific products and solutions can provide more assurance that our products are indeed the most appropriate on the market. This has resulted in an increase in the number of our clients, and resulted in a significant increase in profit for our company,” said Lusiana.
“We have reinvested the profits we have made in the company so that we can continue to grow and serve various market segments. This development can be seen in the size of our company, which currently has 500 employees with a target of adding up to 700 employees by the end of the year.” added Luciana.
This strategy is certainly in contrast to various startups that are currently affected by the storm of layoffs, namely relying on funding from investors and carrying out the practice of "burning money" in order to gain the widest market share.
“Many startups focus on tractions, the number of customers or users, and GMV (Gross merchandise volume) or the number of merchandise sold, but do not pay attention to profitability. As a result, too much funding has been invested in increasing tractions and creating a variety of new products that are not yet in line with market needs. In fact, this does not necessarily ensure an increase in income." Luciana said
Even though it managed to gain a massive market share and rapid growth, this did not guarantee various startups to record a net profit. If funding from investors is running low, so is the company's cash flow, which results in rampant business efficiency processes through layoffs.
“It's better to focus on tractions and profits from 1 or 2 products that are already in line with market needs. After it was successful, just start investing in other products to increase tractions. The focus on profitability must continue, along with other focuses such as market share, number of users and tractions.” Luciana said
Lusiana stated that choosing the right strategy resulted in HashMicro's good performance financially and still being able to recruit in the midst of this layoff storm.
“We at HashMicro have chosen the right strategy, followed by good business operational management and fully focused on developing solutions that the market needs, so that in this storm of layoffs, HashMicro is even more active in recruiting employees. For those who are interested in registering, please visit our career page at jobportal.hashmicro.com” said Lusiana.
Lusiana hopes that this storm of layoffs will end in the future. "We certainly hope that this condition can end soon, and a solution that is beneficial for all parties will emerge, for the sake of re-advancement of various industries in Indonesia," he concluded.