Paytm reduced its workforce by around 10% during the financial year 2024-25, cutting about 4,600 full-time employees. The average employee count came down from about 43,960 in FY24 to 39,368 in FY25. The company said in its latest annual report that this move is part of a larger restructuring plan aimed at improving efficiency, reducing costs, and sharpening its focus on core businesses like digital payments and financial services.
The company noted that the decision to reduce headcount was not taken lightly but was necessary to build a leaner and more focused organization. It clarified that the aim was to improve productivity by using technology more effectively and streamlining departments that were not directly tied to its core strategy. While most of the job cuts affected non-sales roles, the company continued to strengthen its sales operations. The majority of the remaining workforce is now focused on sales.
Meanwhile, the effects of the company’s restructuring can already be seen in its financial results. The firm’s spending on employee-related costs went down sharply, from ₹3,124 crore in the financial year 2023-24 to ₹2,473 crore in 2024-25. It clearly shows that the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company managed to save around ₹650 crore over the year. Also, the drop in expenses represents a 21% reduction compared to the previous year.
The fintech giant admitted that the lower expenses were a direct result of the headcount reduction, tighter control over hiring, and more efficient use of resources. It is worth noting that the workforce cuts came soon after the RBI’s crackdown in March 2024, which forced Paytm Payments Bank to shut down operations and impacted the company’s business
In addition to reducing staff, Paytm also restructured internal operations to shift focus toward profitability. These efforts included cutting down on marketing expenses and limiting spending in areas not directly tied to revenue generation. As a result, in the first quarter of FY26 (April–June 2025), the company posted its first-ever quarterly core business profit, reporting a net income of ₹123 crore. Actually, this is the firm’s first clean profit quarter since its listing, with no help from one-time gains. This is a big improvement from a ₹840 crore loss in the same quarter last year, driven by a 28% rise in revenue and an 18.5% decline in expenses. In the meantime, in a note to shareholders, Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that Paytm now plans to expand into insurance and other wealth solutions as well.
All this comes at a time when, recently, Ant Group (the Chinese fintech giant) has reportedly exited Paytm by selling its remaining 5.84% stake through a block deal expected to raise around ₹3,800 crore (~$433 million). The exit is part of a broader trend of Chinese investors pulling out of India’s tech sector amid tighter foreign investment regulations and ongoing geopolitical tensions. In a similar move, Alibaba sold its remaining 3.4% stake in Paytm in February 2023 for ₹1,378 crore.
