GLOBAL MELTDOWN: From Microsoft to Byju’s, Here’s a List of Companies that have Laid Off Employees in 2022

Employees are one of the most important components in a business. No matter how tiny the firm is, it is impossible to operate without them. The primary assets of a successful business are the employees. However, some significant, well-known corporate companies are laying off workers unexpectedly in 2022. Since some of these layoffs are affecting thousands of employees at once, the corporate sector has been taken aback.

There are many other reasons for the sudden layoffs, including cost-cutting, subpar performance, and financial challenges. Some of the corporates, including Byju’s and Microsoft even came under fire for their rash choice of laying off thousands of employees all of a sudden.

This article will discuss the names of corporates that have fired employees as well as their justifications for doing so. Aside from that, we’ll also discuss businesses that might decide to proceed with the ongoing trend of staff layoffs in the coming future,

1. Microsoft, Laid Off 1800 Employees

Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft Corporation on April 4, 1975, also known as Microsoft. Microsoft is a global American enterprise and unquestionably one of the largest technology businesses in the world today. Shockingly, Microsoft joined the group of significant businesses that are laying off staff in an effort to implement the re-alignment policy. Microsoft is the first major tech company to lay off staff. According to sources dated July 13, 2022, 1% of Microsoft’s 1,80,000 employees across all of its offices and products will be affected by the layoffs. According to insiders, Microsoft would shortly cut down hiring in the Windows, Teams, and Office areas. The blunder was not simply confined to the key layoffs.

2. Byju’s, Laid off 2,500 employees recently

Byju’s, an edtech giant, announced on Wednesday that it will lay off 2,500 workers, or 5% of its workforce. Responding to the sudden decision to lay off the workforce, Byju’s stated that the marketing budget will also be redirected to promote growth that is more effective. Since significant brand awareness has been developed in India over the previous few years, there is an opportunity to prioritise expenditure to raise brand awareness in international markets while also optimising local marketing costs. In FY21, Byju’s reported a loss of 4,588 crore, up from FY20’s loss of 231.69 crore. The news was made after an 18-month wait. In comparison to 2,873.34 crore in FY20, its total expenses in FY21 were 7,027.47 crore.

3. Unacademy Laid Off over 600 Employees

Unacademy, which was founded by Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh, Roman Saini, and Sachin Gupta in 2015, distinguished itself as a great industry titan and provided fierce rivalry with rivals like Byju’s. The sudden decision to fire 600 employees, or 10% of one of the largest EdTech companies in India, stunned everyone this year. According to the justifications given for the layoff, the workers’ performances weren’t up to par. In addition, there may be a capital halt in India for startups, which has been cited as a factor in this choice.

4. Blinkit, Laid Off over 5% of total Employees

Blinkit, formerly known as Grofers, is an online grocery buying platform founded by Albinder Dhindsa in 2013. Some of its staff were laid off in March. It was reportedly 5% of their staff. Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai are the principal cities where layoffs have taken place. Blinkit, which has recently started their exclusive 10 minute delivery in the selected cities, spent a grand budget of Rs 600 crores to make things work. Along with firing their staff, the online food store is also paying its vendors later than expected. Cost-saving measures are cited as the primary cause of the layoffs.

5. Netflix, Laid Off around 450 Employees

Netflix, which was established in 1997 by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings, recently stunned the business world by abruptly firing around 450 of its employees. In an unexpected turn of events, the largest streaming platform has additionally revealed that it will be laying off additional staff in the coming days. The main justification for firing the staff is reportedly that Netflix’s revenue growth has slowed down in part as a result of its rash action. One of the factors contributing to Netflix’s slower rate of revenue growth is the fact that it has recently lost over 2 lakh customers and is reportedly losing more. Most recently, in May 2022, Netflix laid off another 300 staff members as a result of cost-cutting measures.

As previously indicated, a number of businesses are terminating their employees. The reasons for this range from poor economic conditions to pandemics to corporate restructuring to even employee inefficiencies. In addition to all of these, there appears to be a delay in fundraising and pressure from investors to increase the company’s profitability. It appears that the worst is still to come in light of the current state of the global meltdown.