Tech layoffs hit US harder than India

The layoff includes ride-sharing platform Uber, Netflix and several cryptocurrency exchanges and lending platforms…reports Asian Lite News

More than 32,000 tech workers have been laid off in the US till July this year, including at Big Tech companies like Microsoft and Meta (formerly Facebook) and the worst has not been over yet for the tech sector that has seen massive stock sell-off.

According to the data compiled by Crunchbase, more than 32,000 workers in the US tech sector have been laid off in mass job cuts, as of late July.

“We’ve included both startups and publicly traded companies that are based in the US. We’ve also included companies based elsewhere that have a sizable team in the United States, such as Klarna,” the analysis said.

The layoff includes ride-sharing platform Uber, Netflix and several cryptocurrency exchanges and lending platforms.

Robinhood, Glossier and Better are just a few of the tech companies that have trimmed their headcount this year.

Since April 1 this year, more than 43,000 workers from 342 tech companies/startups have been laid off across the world and over 13 per cent are from India, according to latest data compiled by layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks layoffs in startups.

In India, more than 25,000 startup workers have lost jobs since the pandemic began — and more than 11,500 have been fired this year.

The layoffs in India are dominated by edtech platforms like Unacademy (1,150 employees), BYJU’S (550 at Toppr and Whitehat Jr) and Vedantu (624), along with ride-hailing platform Ola (nearly 500), healthcare startup MFine (600) and pre-owned cars platform Cars24 (600), among others.

The other Indian startups and unicorns that have laid off employees are Meesho, MPL, Trell and Blinkit (now owned by Zomato), among others.

As Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola aims to ramp up its electric vehicle (EV) business, media reports have claimed that the ride-hailing platform is laying off around 1,000 employees from across verticals.

According to reports citing employee records, verticals like mobility, hyperlocal, fintech, and Ola’s used car operations have included in the layoff process.

However, according to sources close to the company, these layoffs may impact less than 500 employees and not 1,000, and “are a result of restructuring in the Cars and Dash businesses”.

The company currently has nearly 1,100 employees in its core ride-hailing business.

Senior executives at the SoftBank-backed company were recently tasked with identifying team members who can be asked to leave based on performance.

Ola is planning to cut costs amid a challenging funding environment and global downturn.

The company aims at “leaner and consolidated teams” to keep its “strong profitability intact”.

ALSO READ: Oppo India’s ‘Vihan’ to boost smartphone industry

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *