One’s loss is another’s gain – The positive side of layoffs

The tech sector has been gripped by a flurry of layoffs. The mood is far from upbeat as bad times are being predicted. With most of the layoffs taking place in the tech space, and that too in the US market, is it right to call this a US trend?

Well, in the last few months, more than 60,000 jobs hae been lost in the US, in the tech sector alone. However, an examination of the facts and figures shows that India isn’t far behind. Close to 12,000 people in the country have been rendered jobless in 2022 alone. These job cuts have been witnessed majorly in the edtech sector, with companies such as WhiteHat Jr, Byju’s, Lido, Unacademy and many more having fired people in significant numbers. Even big brands such as Ola have laid off several hundreds of employees this year.

It’s raining Indian techies

Clearly, the axe has not fallen on US employees alone. Many Indians have borne the brunt of the recent layoff saga, as they make up a significant portion of the H1B visa holders employed in the Silicon Valley. Several stories of Indians left in the lurch in the US surfaced after Meta announced its layoffs. Some of them had only about 60 days in hand to find alternate employment.

“Tech talent remains tech talent, irrespective of where they are, because they are creating value for their company”

Anil Mohanty, head of people, Medikabazaar

There is a positive side to it all, though. Earlier, there was a war for tech talent, but now, there is a deluge of tech talent in the market, available for the taking. Thanks to these layoffs, companies are presented with a great opportunity to pick quality talent from this pool.

“This tech talent has the potential to work in all sectors, from tech product startups, services firms and e-commerce firm, to even traditional Indian companies that are riding the digitalisation wave,” states Anil Mohanty, head of people, Medikabazaar.

Opportunities galore

While the US is bracing itself for an upcoming recession, experts feel that India is not much impacted and continues to hire. “India is in hiring mode and every sector in the country is growing,” says Praveen Purohit, deputy CHRO, Vedanta.

Purohit believes there is no dearth of opportunity for talent that is good and can be useful. “Though the traditional sectors may have limited offerings for these people, overall, they will be absorbed without any difficulty,” tells Purohit.

Harsh Jain, founder & CEO, Dream Sports, has expressed his company’s willingness to hire the laid off people, majorly Indians. “With all the 2022 tech layoffs (52,000+!) in the US, please spread the word to remind Indians to come back home (specially those with visa issues) to help Indian tech realise our hyper-growth potential in the next decade!,” tweeted Jain recently. The Company has asked people interested to join Dream Sports to send in their applications on Indiareturns@dreamsports.group.

“One will have to risk sacrificing a certain amount of salary to restart another job”

Rishav Dev, CHRO, Noveltech Feeds

Apart from the immense opportunities available across companies, such talent also has the potential and chance to become founders themselves. A capital investment firm in the US, called A Day Ventures, started a programme called ‘Funded not Fired’. The initiative will provide seed funding of $100,000 to 20 founders, and invest another $1 million in the best performers.

There is definitely no dearth of opportunities for those with potential and drive.

Minor challenges

However, there can be challenges as well. First of all, moving to another company or industry can be a challenge. As we are aware, demand for tech talent exists across sectors. While for companies such as Meta, Amazon and Google, this is core talent, for some other companies these may not form the core talent.

“Tech talent remains tech talent, irrespective of where they are, because they are creating value for their company,” says Mohanty, asserting that the only challenge that may arise is that of adjusting to another culture. “To adjust to another culture, one just needs to be agile and dedicate some time at work,” suggests Mohanty.

“Though the traditional sectors may have limited offerings for tech talent, overall, they will be absorbed without any difficulty”

Praveen Purohit, deputy CHRO, Vedanta

Salary correction

Salary correction is another major challenge these people will go through. As per experts, in the past two months, companies have hired and paid such talent in excess. Their salaries have inflated beyond imagination. Now, the industry is course correcting itself, and therefore, this talent may have to compromise on their compensation when they join another company. “One will have to risk sacrificing a certain amount of salary to restart another job,” admits Rishav Dev, CHRO, Noveltech Feeds.

For all those laid off techies out there, the advantage is that they will be presented with ample opportunities, but the disadvantage is that there will also be minor challenges. After all, the market which was once in their favour is now in favour of the employers.