Trimmed: People take a photo at the Meta corporate headquarters on November 9, 2022 in Menlo Park, Calif. Facebook owner Meta will lay off more than 11,000 of its employees, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in one of the toughest changes made in Meta’s history. photo credit: Josh Adelson
The number of people employed by Meta in 2020 was around 58,000. The workforce is set to grow to 87,000 in 2022, despite two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. tech giants Amazon, Microsoft and Apple also registered similar growth. The idea was to capitalize on the growing online presence of Internet users due to movement restrictions related to COVID-19 by conducting a wider operation.
However, as the intensity of the pandemic subsided, the amount of time spent online also decreased. Dependence on online platforms has reduced especially for activities like shopping and studies. According to audience research company GWI, more than 95% of people were already using social media and messaging platforms, so the companies’ growth potential was minimal. As online usage is expected to continue to grow, tech companies’ net income declined, resulting in layoffs. Meta co-founder Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged this failure when he said he had predicted, like many others, that the e-commerce boom at the start of COVID-19 would continue after the pandemic ended. He added, “Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way I expected.”
It is a matter of great concern for the laid off Indian workers. If they are unable to find a new employer within 60 days, they face the prospect of leaving the US and re-entering later. But the average wait time for an interview appointment at the US Embassy in cities in India is over a year (as of November 29). This is a problem that only Indian workers face, as waiting times in other countries are at least less than 100 days; In most of them, it is less than 15 days. To make matters worse, the repatriation prospects of these Indian workers are also bleak. Fears of a recession in the US and high inflation in Europe have forced most Indian IT companies to freeze or slow down hiring.
chart 1 Shows the average time users worldwide, aged 16 to 64, spend on the Internet each day, according to the GWI. Time spent there increased during the pandemic and declined as movement restrictions eased.
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Table 2 Shows the share of Internet users who viewed or used a digital service in the past 30-day period. While the share of visitors to banking, messaging and social media sites remained mostly the same, the share of those using educational and business sites declined.
Table 3 Shows net income in $million for select US tech giants. After posting significant growth during the peaks of the pandemic, which gave them hope of deepening investments, companies saw poor returns in the last three quarters and were forced to lay off employees.
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Table 4 Shows employee headcount. The workforce increased during the pandemic period. But according to recent news reports, Meta has laid off more than 11,000 employees, Amazon plans to lay off more than 10,000 workers, Microsoft is expected to send nearly 1,000 workers home, and Apple is no longer at work. is keeping A fair share of the affected workforce are Indians, who make up a large portion of H-1B hiring.
chart 5 Shows the estimated wait time for temporary workers with H, L, O, P and Q visa types to receive an interview appointment at a US embassy or consulate on November 29. Five Indian cities stand out with waiting times close to a year. ,
Table 6 Shows the year-on-year change in the number of employees of select IT firms in India. The numbers have dropped drastically in the latest quarter.
With inputs from Vignesh Radhakrishnan
rebecca.varghese@thehindu.co.in, vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in
Sources: GWI, Travel.State.Gov, Annual and Quarterly Reports of Selected Companies
See also:Business Matters | Why are layoffs becoming common in companies?
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