Indian IT sector hit by silent layoffs, over 20,000 affected
What's the story
India's IT sector has been hit by a wave of 'silent' layoffs between 2023 and 2024. The All India IT & ITeS Employees's Union (AIITEU) reports that approximately 20,000 tech professionals lost their jobs in this period. The AIITEU suggests the actual number could be higher but remains unreported. These layoffs have occurred across IT services firms of all sizes.
Methods
Silent layoff practices and their impact in 2024
Silent layoffs are a common practice among firms, discreetly letting go of employees. The most prevalent method involves giving a worker 30 days to secure a new role within the same firm. If unsuccessful, the employee is asked to leave. In 2024 alone, between 2,000-3,000 employees lost their jobs at top Indian IT services companies, according to Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES).
Steps
Major companies implementing silent layoffs
US-based Teradata, a cloud analytics and data platform company, axed around 35-40 employees from its Hyderabad campus at the end of 2023. This followed a global layoff of approximately 1,100 employees in 2022. Boston-based financial services firm State Street took over Atos Syntel's operations here last year, and reportedly let go of around 400-500 employees in March 2024, as part of streamlining operations.
Ongoing layoffs
Layoffs continue across major IT firms
Reports indicate that similar layoffs are occurring across Accenture, Infosys, and Cognizant. In 2024, Infosys reportedly asked nearly 200-500 employees to voluntarily resign. However, both Infosys and Atos Group have denied these allegations of layoffs. Industry experts have labeled this period as one of the highest layoff years post the financial crisis of 2007-2008.
Expert opinions
Expert insight on the current layoff scenario
Yugal Joshi, leader of technology services research at Everest Group, attributes challenging macroeconomic scenarios as a contributing factor to the layoffs. He stated, "All of them promised to maintain or increase operating margin and for a service company beyond people reduction there are not many credible levers." Joshi expressed concern about service providers trimming their smaller-sized clients, as lost clients are rarely regained.