India tech workers brace for lay-offs as global slump hits firms from Amazon to Twitter
- A global economic slowdown has spooked investors whose cash fuelled aggressive hiring in the tech sector during the pandemic years
- Edtech firms have been among the most affected in India, but even as anxiety grips start-ups, some observers believe the tech sector’s struggles are only temporary
For Ashish Jain, an employee at the Hyderabad office of a New York-based tech start-up, the realities of the tech crunch sweeping the globe meant a swift, unceremonious exit from a job he had taken up just seven months before.
“I had received good comments on a project we had completed the day before I was laid off,” he said.
“All of a sudden, I got a call from HR telling me I was losing my position ... They told me that the recession in the US has impacted the company and we had to downsize the team.”
His dismissal last month was so abrupt that even his manager was caught unawares, he said. “Everything happened so quickly. They just revoked my credentials and access from the system, but my manager had yet to be informed.”
Indian cities from Bangalore to Hyderabad and capital New Delhi are home to hundreds of thousands of young tech workers hoping to break into top positions in a sector valued at US$225 billion.
