HCL Tech lays off over 300 globally working on Microsoft projects

Company silent on layoff details, but sources say those asked to go are from India, Philippines and Guatemala

The budget cuts at Big Tech are impacting Indian information technology (IT) players as well, signalling an increasingly tough business environment.

India’s third-largest software exporter — HCL Technologies — has laid off 350 employees globally who were working on its client Microsoft’s news-related products.

These employees were laid off from across geographies, including Guatemala, the Philippines, and India.

The company did not comment on the layoffs, but its spokesperson, however, said: “Our technology and services vertical continues to see robust growth and is one of the fastest-growing segments for us.”

Big Tech players like Microsoft, Google, and Meta are already asking employees to increase productivity and cut down on expenses like travel.

A few weeks ago, several contract workers at Facebook’s Austin office moderating content were reportedly told they had been given the marching orders, revealed an Insider report. Facebook parent Meta Platforms is looking to shift more of the work towards Singapore. That means of about 600 Accenture workers on Facebook projects, 400 are expected to lose work by the end of the year.

Meta has slowed down investment pace into newer projects amid revenue decline.

Microsoft was among the first Big Tech firms to lay off about 1 per cent of its total staff strength of 180,000 in July, followed by 200 more in August. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella called it a part of the realignment exercise.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai also hinted at layoffs to make the company 20 per cent more leaner/efficient recently after an internal warning to employees to improve performance.

Analysts are of the opinion that these project-wise budget cuts cannot be dismissed as ‘overall budget cuts’.

Earlier US-based retailer Macy’s, too, had written to its IT vendors, stating it was cutting discretionary spending.

“We are seeing certain projects getting impacted. This is clearly US-centric. Companies want to control costs since they have invested huge in tech over the past one and a half years,” observed an analyst.