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Bengaluru: Global companies have been announcing layoffs, mostly driven by the accelerating impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and also as a cost-cutting measure. The trimmings have started to touch their Indian workforce. Though Accenture, SAP, Novo Nordisk and Microsoft announced their layoffs some time ago, it is learnt that a few employees in India have received their termination letters now. Remarkably, more roles will come under the axe in coming weeks in India.
Global healthcare company Novo Nordisk last month announced a workforce reduction of about 9,000 positions out of 78,400 employees. “Parting ways with talented colleagues is the most difficult part of this process. I want to personally acknowledge the dedication and meaningful contributions of all our colleagues, especially those who may be affected by these changes. These changes are intended to enable us to do two things simultaneously — realign resources toward high-impact R&D and commercial initiatives while creating a more agile organisation that can respond faster to the evolving needs of millions of patients with chronic diseases,” Maziar Mike Doustdar, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk said in a LinkedIn post.
The cut paring of roles is set to impact employees in India too. Novo Nordisk has a Global Business Services (GBS) hub in Bengaluru.
When asked how many employees in India will be impacted? Novo Nordisk said in a statement, “We have announced that the total number of intended workforce reductions globally is approximately 9,000. Out of respect for the employees involved, we will not share additional details about individual sites or areas. This process takes time, and our highest priority is to support our employees.”
In July this year, in yet another round of layoff, Microsoft announced 9,000 job cuts. In May, the company had let go of about 6,000 employees or 3% of its total employees across all levels and geographies and many employees were asked to leave immediately. SAP is also slashing more jobs and in a statement, it said, “As our industry undergoes a profound transformation driven by AI and cloud technologies, we are focusing on continuously optimizing our processes and structures, as well as making strategic investments in future capabilities. As announced in July, we are investing in training programs and new hires in critical growth areas. Also announced in July, we are planning targeted measures that are expected to affect approximately 1–2% of our global workforce in 2025.”
According to Layoffs.fyi, which compiles data from public reports and tracks layoffs, 91,314 tech employees have been laid off globally in 2025.
Apart from these, India’s largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services, which employs over 6.1 lakh people, recently announced job cuts that will impact about 12,250 employees.