Mass layoffs are becoming a common reality across the global economy, signalling major changes in how companies manage and restructure their workforces—not just in India, but worldwide. Layoffs are shifting from short-term cuts to long-term structural changes, driven by AI, automation, efficiency pressures, and so on.
Imagine being called into a last-minute meeting with no agenda. A manager joins the call, followed by an unfamiliar face. Within minutes, the purpose becomes clear, you are part of a workforce reduction. This was the recent experience of a Microsoft employee who shared their story on a professional networking platform. It’s not an isolated account, but a reflection of a broader pattern.
In boardrooms and video calls from Seattle to Bengaluru, thousands of employees are discovering their careers can change course in a matter of minutes. What began as scattered cost-cutting measures in the wake of post-pandemic uncertainties has now evolved into a mass layoff trend, with ripple effects reaching markets like India in significant ways. From technology majors and financial firms to consumer brands and gaming startups, job cuts are reshaping the employment landscape at an unprecedented scale.
The Global Landscape: A Broad Sweep of Job Cuts
Across the globe, the scale of layoffs paints a sobering picture. Microsoft has led some of the most sweeping cuts, letting go of 9,043 employees worldwide, alongside an additional 10% reduction in its French workforce, as the company sharpens its focus on cloud and AI efficiency. Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical giant behind Ozempic, shocked the market with 9,000 layoffs, demonstrating that strategy changes can take precedence over product success in the healthcare industry.
In the broader tech ecosystem, the story has been no less dramatic. Salesforce cut nearly 4,400 jobs, while Oracle shed roughly 740 roles globally and followed with further reductions in India. Intel announced multiple rounds of cuts exceeding 5,000 positions across the U.S., while smaller but influential firms like Scale AI (200 jobs), Cisco (over 300), Lenovo (100+), and CrowdStrike (500) also joined the wave. This highlighted how both well-established giants and newer players are trimming staff to adapt to tighter margins and future uncertainty.
Social media has also not been exempted. The unusual strategy of firing employees based on performance and hiring replacements at the same time is part of Meta Platforms’ plans to reduce 5% of its global workforce this year, according to January media reports. This restructuring strategy emphasizes how talent reshaping is just as important as cost-saving measures.
Once regarded as more dependable, traditional sectors have also been severely impacted. In an effort to save £100 million by 2027, luxury fashion brand Burberry announced 1,700 job layoffs, or over 18% of its staff, while Boeing terminated 400 positions related to its moon rocket program because of NASA-related delays.
Consumer centric businesses have also suffered as adidas cut 500 jobs in Germany, Coty cut 700 positions, and Automattic, the parent company of Tumblr, laid off 16% of its workforce. Pressure has also been placed on the cosmetics industry; despite high brand awareness, Estée Lauder announced plans to restructure its business and eliminate between 5,800 and 7,000 jobs over the next two years.
The trend has even affected companies in the banking and aerospace sectors. As per a media source, 200 people were let go by BlackRock, over 1,000 by Blue Origin, and about 1,000 by Jack Dorsey’s finance company Block. These instances demonstrate that the wave of layoffs is a cross-industry, worldwide restructuring rather than being limited to a single industry or region.
India’s Share: Beyond Economics Into Policy
India has not been immune to this wave, despite being partly shielded by its robust IT and services infrastructure. The largest IT employer in the nation, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) laid off 12,000 workers in July, citing optimization and alignment with digital-first business models. Oracle lost about 2,800 workers, or 10% of its employment in India, spanning major cities including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune, mirroring its global restructuring.
However, India’s layoff narrative has a unique twist: the role of policy decisions. The online gaming industry, once touted as a growth engine, has been among the hardest hit. Following the political scrutiny, Head Digital Works (500 job cuts), Games24x7 (400 job cuts), and Mobile Premier League (300 job cuts) all resorted to significant downsizing. Unlike global firms where AI adoption or economic downturns triggered layoffs, these cuts underscore how legislative actions can have immediate and severe consequences for employment.
Global vs Indian Scale
Although the number of layoffs in India is lower than that of the multinational behemoths, the impact is significant because of the nation’s status as a center for IT services and developing industries. India’s sector-specific layoffs pale in comparison to the tens of thousands of layoffs announced globally by companies like Microsoft (9,000+) and Novo Nordisk (9,000). Still, for India, the layoffs were reported to be over 15,500 in IT and gaming alone in recent months. With over 420 million India’s youth population in 2024 as per PRICE report, such economic shifts and regulatory repercussions have echoed profoundly across them.
What the Trend Signals
Layoffs are shifting from short-term cost cuts to structural change, driven by AI, automation, and efficiency pressures. Consumer sectors face weak demand, while in India tax and regulatory shifts deepen the impact. The result is uncertainty for employees and a balancing act for companies between innovation, compliance, and trust.
This global trend clearly signifies that the reason for layoffs is diverse, from technological advancement to economic stimulation to legislative decisions. This makes it imperative for business leaders, stakeholders, policymakers to draw their attention towards this and recognize the multifaceted roots of this crisis.