- Most of the articles in the media quote "Unnamed sources." This may not be true since most senior leaders at the company are probably s#itting in their seats worried about their own roles. These folks aren't going to be inclined to speak to the media
- "15,000 roles globally." Numbers from India are clear as mud. This is because companies have a workaround to report "layoffs" to government labour authorities The HR generally calls employees asking them to voluntarily "resign immediately" if they want severance. It is a simple corporate magic — resignations are not considered "layoffs" and hence don't need to be reported to statutory authorities.
- Guessing Game: How do we get to know numbers A week or two after the forced layoffs/resignations some internal folks may be able to lookup slack and other employee directories to know the before-and-after. By some accounts, the 15,000 number in the media is likely a conservative estimate. Layoffs at services companies begin with "overhead employees" in non-billable, support roles including pre-sales, excess bench. Currently billable employees are least likely to be impacted
For those saying "we need IT unions" or "lawmakers should help," back to point #2 — company will claim there are "no-layoffs; This is just a just wave of large-scale resignations" … and everyone winks 😉
Folks at different stages of their career are wondering "what does it mean to me?"
- Entry level roles — WITCH companies that generally hire tens of thousands of freshers into their boot-camp are likely to be more conservative. The services sector has generally thrived by being 'bottom heavy' billing clients with resources/ freshers out of boot-camp. Slower hiring at this level will impact the industry in the long run.
- Mid-career roles — They already know the drill — shape-up, use AI and automation or ship out!
- Senior roles — Those at the top echelons at service firms have clawed their way to the top and are tenacious survivors. If they have been fiscally prudent in the past decades, many may be looking to FIRE or the next act.
Almost every company across sectors — FAANG, WITCH, and GCC — is laying off, but only the big names make headlines. Regardless of the fuzziness around numbers, a service company laying off 15,000+ employees, especially in a low-cost country like India signals yet another tectonic shift.
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Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.