Brands
Astrotalk champions mothers’ cause; launches ‘Bring Women back to Workforce’ initiative
Mumbai: Astrotalk, a spiritual tech startup taking astrology global, has launched its “Bring Women back to Workforce” initiative. The program aims to assist new mothers in rejoining the workforce, providing the means to restart their careers and financially empower them. With nearly 50 per cent female astrologers on the platform, Astrotalk recognizes the challenges women encounter including employer hesitation after a hiatus/break. Under this initiative, Astrotalk is extending its support to mothers aged 30-45 through free-of-cost training in Tarot and Astrological Sciences.
Motherhood can be a challenging phase for women while balancing responsibilities. Once women leave their careers or experience a decline in their professional trajectories, they also face hiring reluctance by employers. Astrotalk has launched this initiative to offer mothers an opportunity to restart their careers. Upon the completion of training and professional assessment, the company will hire these women full-time at a starting package of INR 5 Lakhs per annum. The training for the first batch of 500 women is already underway, and the company aims to train 5000 women by the end of 2024.
Astrotalk will conduct this training program for free, bearing the complete cost for mothers. With this initiative, Astrotalk addresses a crucial aspect often overlooked by many employers. Women between the ages of 30-45 years and 12th pass/graduates are eligible for the program. The company remains committed to employee welfare by providing competitive salaries and remote work flexibility. Every employee of Astrotalk holds ESOPs regardless of their designation and tenure.
Commenting on the initiative, Astrotalk founder and CEO Puneet Gupta said, ”With the majority of our astrologers being women, we delved deeper into exploring additional ways to assist women currently taking a career break. The most common pain point was mothers who had to opt out of their careers. With this initiative, we want to financially empower women while simultaneously helping them balance work and home responsibilities. We have always been a proponent for equal opportunity and this program reflects our principle of being a people-first company.”
Astrotalk is continuously expanding into international markets as well, including Canada, the US, NZ, EU, etc. and foresees 100 per cent growth in these areas. In India, the company plans to penetrate tier 2, and 3 cities and towards South India where astrology is prevalent.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
