72% of layoffs in India are done in fire-at-will style: Survey

Hyderabad: As layoffs created a lot of anxiety in the tech industry in recent times, at least 72 per cent of Indian professionals who experienced or witnessed layoffs were informed on the same day or the day before, according to a new survey by Blind, the anonymous community app for verified professionals. The findings, based on responses from 1,396 professionals between October 29 and November 5, point to widespread abuse of legal loopholes by global tech firms operating in the country.

For most affected employees, the layoff process lacked both legal compliance and humane communication. 72 per cent were informed within just two days of their last working day. The rate was especially high at Amazon, Target and Freshworks, exceeding 90 per cent according to the survey by Blind. Only 18 per cent said they received any advance notice (one to three months) as mandated by law.

Many multinational companies (MNCs) operating in India’s tech and service sectors have long taken advantage of a gap in the country’s labor framework that excludes IT and managerial staff from the “workmen” category. This allows them to legally bypass mandatory notice periods and government approval under the Industrial Disputes Act (IDA), leaving tens of millions of white-collar professionals outside the scope of labor protections.

Beyond the legal gaps, the way layoffs are executed is often one-sided. 37 per cent were informed via Zoom or Teams calls, 23 per cent received impersonal email notifications, and 13 per cent discovered they had been terminated only after their system access was suddenly cut off.

Even when sudden layoffs technically breach the spirit of the law, companies frequently use “in lieu of notice” payments to avoid penalties — paying a short-term severance instead of giving advance warning.

On Blind, several affected professionals shared how these practices are eroding trust and mental security within India’s tech scene. “It’s a cruel psychological game: keep people anxious, hoping some will quit voluntarily, saving the company money on severance,” wrote an employee from Amazon India. Another user from Samsung pointed to shared resilience, saying, “All I can think of is to become proficient at doing something on our own. It could be small, but that ability gives some sense of security.”

Blind surveyed 1,396 verified Indian professionals via its app from October 29 to November 5, 2025, to examine the current landscape of layoffs in India.

Bay Area in USA headquartered Blind is an anonymous app where 12 million verified professionals worldwide engage in conversations across companies and industries. Over 90 per cent of employees at Meta, Uber, PayPal, and Capital One, as well as more than 70 per cent of Microsoft employees in India, are users of the platform.

Participants were asked to answer the following questions:

Have you or someone you know witnessed a sudden layoff with little to no notice?

Yes, I have personally experienced it (20%)

Yes, I’ve heard it directly from close peers (36%)

I’ve only seen it online or in the news (30%)

No, not at all (14%)

How long in advance was the layoff communicated?

Within 2 days (72%)

Within 2 weeks (10%)

1 month before (10%)

3 months before (8%)

How was the layoff communicated?

Over a Zoom/Teams call (37%)

Access suddenly cut off from systems (13%)

Via email or document, no personal communication (23%)

Told to leave in person (27%)