Source: The Economic Times
New Delhi, August 7, 2025 — Fintech leader Paytm has made considerable cuts to its workforce and employee costs as part of a larger cost-optimization strategy in FY25. In its latest annual report, the company’s average on-roll employee count dropped by around 4,600—from 43,960 in FY24 to 39,368 in FY25—across all subsidiaries.
Even with the reduction in headcount, the company has an excellent sales force. Of the remaining 39,368 employees, 32,614 were in sales roles, which highlights Paytm’s focus on building and expanding its distribution systems.
Through the restructuring, Paytm was able to reduce employee costs (excluding for costs associated with its Employee Stock Option Plan) by 21% year-on-year. Employee costs fell from ₹3,124 crore in FY24 to ₹2,473 crore in FY25, a cost reduction of around ₹651 crore.
In its yearly report, Paytm attributed the savings to its ongoing focus on creating a lean train organization, better operational efficiency, and increased technology utilization. “(This) was driven by our continued efforts to create a leaner organization structure and increase productivity leveraging technology while we continue to invest in our sales team to expand our distribution network,” the report stated.
Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma echoed similar sentiments in his letter to shareholders. “Now, having crossed the milestone of profitability, I’m proud of our team for their disciplined execution, deep conviction, and relentless innovation. We took some tough calls, pruned and sold businesses, and doubled down on our core of payments, ensuring the preservation and growth of our cash reserves.”
The results of these efforts were reflected in Paytm’s financial results. Its parent organization, One 97 Communications, recorded a net profit of ₹123 crore during the quarter ended June 2025 (Q1 FY26), from a net loss of ₹840 crore during the previous year’s Q1, mostly by cutting costs.
Also, the company recorded only a small amount of ESOP cost – ₹30 crore, in the June quarter, because stock grants were delayed. Paytm stated that these costs will appear more in future quarters and it expects total year-end ESOP costs will range between ₹250 crore and ₹275 crore.
Sharma pointed out that Paytm is committed to trying new avenues of growth and sticking to cost-saving measures.
