Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu pauses raises and trims marketing budget
Zoho's founder Sridhar Vembu just hit pause on annual pay raises and trimmed the marketing budget, amid rising costs linked to artificial intelligence (AI), an uncertain business outlook and geopolitical challenges, including a massive 4-fold increase in server prices and rapidly rising AI usage.
He also mentioned that an unpredictable business climate and global issues played a part in these tough calls.
Zoho holds headcount steady 18 months
Even with these challenges, Zoho has kept its team size steady for the past 18 months.
Vembu thanked employees for sticking together and said the company is doing its best to avoid major layoffs, even though the outlook for software jobs in general is grim right now.
The next few years will be crucial as Zoho works to adapt and reinvent itself.