Will 2025 see another wave of layoffs?

Even as the tech sector continues to feel the pangs of last year’s widespread layoffs, more pink slips have started coming in. While the trend of trimming the workforce as a cost-cutting measure started in early 2022 as a result of the pandemic, global instability and the economic slowdown have perpetuated this with companies desperately adjusting to market conditions. 

India’s Count in 2025 

According to layoffs.fyi, more than 7,700 employees lost their jobs in 2024 alone and by the end of December last year, the total number of layoffs since 2022 surpassed 38,300 in India. 

Although 2025 has just begun, 252 employees have already been laid off. 

However, industry experts predict that 2025 will be a better year in terms of employment. They believe companies have finally regained a sense of stability and that the growing demand and advancements in technology such as AI suggest that the industry is set to evolve positively. Experts also point out a modest uptick in new job requisitions – around 10 to 15 per cent more than the same period last year.

Prashanth Thiruvaipati, Founder of Neemtree and Klimb mentioned that even startups are approaching them for outplacement support. He said, “Interestingly, startups also approach us for outplacement support - something that became more common in 2023, which was arguably the toughest year in recent memory.” 

He added, “Fortunately, with 2024 showing stronger hiring activity than 2023, the same trend is reflected in the requests coming in.”

That being said, the start of 2025 did bring layoffs news from Indian companies across categories. The first one to join the list was ShareChat, which plans to reduce its workforce by 5 per cent as part of its annual review cycle, according to reports. This follows a similar reduction in August 2024, where another 5 per cent of employees were let go.

Notably, Sharechat has laid off over 850 employees till now, including 200 in December 2023 and 600 in January 2023. 

Pocket FM has also joined the wave and has planned to let go 75 employees as part of cost-cutting, essentially to build a more profitable organization, reports said. 

There are also reports about The Good Glamm Group handing pink slips to over 150 employees. This January 2025 layoff is similar to April 2024 when the company decided to let go of 150 employees as a part of a restructuring exercise to maximise profits. 

Even major companies in India such as Flipkart, Tata Consulting Services (TCS), Samsung, and Wipro have not been immune to the wave and had undertaken major layoffs in 2024. This trend was also seen amongst startups such as Paytm, Freshworks, Byju’s, Ola Electric and Ola Consumer, Swiggy, Dunzo, Unacademy and more.

Globally, Meta is planning to lay off 3,600 employees, which accounts for 5 per cent of its workforce. As per reports, the tech giant was picking up "low performers". CNN too said it will be laying off 6 per cent of its workforce, affecting around 200 employees.

“Companies hired excessively, often beyond actual needs, as a precaution against anticipated attrition during what became known as the ‘Great Resignation’ era. This over-hiring, coupled with inflated salaries and an oversized workforce, eventually led to the wave of layoffs,” said Sunil Goel, Managing Director at GlobalHunt. 

Some additional factors behind the increased layoffs over the past couple of years were mentioned by Thiruvaipati. He suggested that the push to bring employees back to the office (partly due to concerns over moonlighting and performance management) has influenced hiring and retention decisions. He added, “Many organisations feel their current performance management systems aren’t robust enough to handle goal-setting and reviews for a mostly remote workforce. As per our assessment, these factors, combined with a funding slowdown, led to recalibration in headcount.”

In 2024, edtech giant Byju’s led the trend, laying off over 4,000 employees across sales, marketing, and operations. Food delivery platform Swiggy reduced its workforce by 6%, affecting around 350-400 roles, while Flipkart cut 1,100-1,500 jobs as part of a 5-7% workforce reduction. Fintech leader Paytm laid off over 1,000 employees across multiple units, and Ola Electric let go of 400-500 employees in November. Fitness startup Cult.fit downsized by cutting 100-120 roles, and BNPL platform Simpl conducted two rounds of layoffs, eliminating a total of 190 positions.

Silent Layoffs

While the numbers do paint a grim picture - they also highlighted an emerging trend which suggests that companies are actively engaging in newer methods to reduce headcounts.

The industry is actively engaging in what is known as ‘silent layoffs’- which essentially means that companies are increasingly dismissing employees through indirect methods. 

“Such layoffs are tough to track from the outside, but one can see signs through a sudden spike in performance-related exits and roles made redundant with or without discussions,” said Thiruvaipati. 

Goel further mentions a few examples of companies engaging in this practice. “Silent layoffs are often disguised as performance-related terminations or by asking employees to relocate to cities other than their base locations,” he added. 

Global Trend

This wave of layoffs has not only swept India but is becoming a concerning issue worldwide. 

Layoff.fyi data revealed striking layoff numbers globally. 546 tech companies worldwide laid off 152,074 employees in 2024. Even in 2025, over 5,000 employees have already lost their jobs.

The situation was even worse in 2023 and 2022 wherein 264,220 and 165,269 employees lost their jobs, respectively. 

Global companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Dell, and IBM announced major layoffs in 2024. In 2025, these companies are looking at another round of layoffs. Intel, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon are expected to hand pink slips to thousands of employees by the end of Q1 2025 in an effort to optimize costs and eliminate low-performing employees. 

Saturated job market

The job market is thus saturated with laid-off employees actively looking for new opportunities. 

“We have been receiving a surge of resumes from mid- and senior-level professionals, particularly from funded startups, who are facing challenges related to career growth, timely salary payments, and fair compensation,” concluded Goel.