NEW DELHI: Oyo Hotels and Homes is in the process of laying off about 2,000 employees pan India across functions by the end of January to save on manpower costs and make some of its processes “more tech enabled”, multiple people close to the company claimed.Divisions like sales, supply and operations will account for a chunk of the layoffs , people familiar with matters at the SoftBank-backed hotels chain told ET.“Business has been hampered amid rising discontent among owners,” one of them said.Oyo said it does not anticipate replacement of thousands of people in the near term.In order to ensure that a “meritocracy-based” performance evaluation programme thrives, every month Oyo tracks the performance of individuals and depending on the results (a grading-based system) and the individual’s interests, it may replace some candidates after giving them an opportunity to go through a performance improvement programme, an Oyo spokesperson said in response to ET’s queries.But people cited earlier said several employees who had satisfactory grades in the firm’s evaluation are in the process of being laid off.“The company maintains that employees with a D rating are laid off, but those with ratings like B and some other moderate and satisfactory performers have also been asked to go,” one of them said.The company spokesperson said Oyo does see technology replacing select roles in various business-side engagement buckets, but claimed that every such team member is given another opportunity. “For example, some folks from sales could become a part of the centralised customer service or business development team, and in order to make sure they are set up for success, we also provide them adequate training and support,” the person said.One of the people cited earlier said the company is looking to save on manpower costs by the end of January. “The average salaries of these employees is in the range of Rs 10-12 lakh, so that could mean savings of hundreds of crores for the company,” the person said. “A large number of people in sales and supply would be made redundant. Oyo could then say that because they have made some of these processes technology enabled, they won't need these people anymore.”Another person said the company plans to cut jobs in its corporate office. “They might just keep about 8-10 sales people in each branch,” the person said. “In Mumbai, there was a team of about 180 people in sales. They fired about 120 this month.”Oyo Hotels & Homes’ net loss widened considerably in the financial year ended March 31, owing to a combination of increased operating and employee benefit expenses, according to a valuation report filed by the company with the Registrar of Companies.Oravel Stays, which owns and operates the hospitality chain, has reported provisional net loss of Rs 2,384.69 crore for the fiscal year, up from Rs 360.43 crore in the previous financial year.Employees laid off this month have been given one month’s notice period by the company, the sources said.ET had in its edition dated August 22 reported that Oyo had begun the process of laying off sales staff in August and that about 60 sales people in Oyo’s New Delhi and Gurgaon offices were the first to be fired. Oyo had then said the company follows a performance-oriented grading system and that it separates a small group of employees – about 1% – every month across functions and markets for not meeting expectations and targets.“Area managers (who take care of operations in cities) in places like Gurgaon will also be in the firing line,” one of the sources said.In its edition dated November 24, ET had reported that more than 500 hotels in 100 cities had snapped ties with Oyo since April as the relationship had soured after various disputes. Oyo had denied this and had said the numbers cited were “incorrect” and “inflated”.