The global tech sector employs more than 55 million professionals, and Indians make up almost 10 per cent of that with with more than five million workers. The tech layoffs led by over 1,000 American firms such as Twitter, Amazon, Google, Meta and Cisco, has left more than two lakh people jobless, and is bound to affect a large number of Indians. After heartbreaking stories of Indians in the US on borrowed time to find new jobs and women getting fired on maternity leave, almost 400 employees of an American fintech firm in Pune have been fired.
New CEO eyes $500 million in cost savings
According to reports, Fidelity National Information Services has taken the decision as part of restructuring, which will leave thousands across the globe without a job. The US-based firm is now led by a new CEO Stephanie Ferris, who is opting for cost-cutting measures as the tech sector faces headwinds including a looming recession. The company currently has 65,000 employees globally, of which 3,000 are working at its Pune office, and is slashing the workforce to save $500 million.
Are gradual layoffs any less painful?
The fintech firm has also informed employees that they are entitled to severance based on basic pay, and the settlement will be completed in five days. Earlier Ferris had said that the layoffs will be gradual, at a time when the job cuts at Twitter and fall in ad revenues last month, triggered a spate of layoffs across tech firms. Indian firms such as Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover and social media firm Koo have offered to hire people laid off by big tech, but those are just a few hundred openings in the face of lakhs facing unemployment.
As major Indian startups such as Byjus and Zomato are firing people because of funds drying up, smaller startups are offering hope with 11,000 openings reported in October from the ecosystem.
