Layoffs, AI, rising cost of living: Why Bengaluru’s techies are feeling insecure

Bengaluru’s tech workers, once seen as secure, are grappling with AI-driven pressures, rising costs, and a constant need to reskill — pushing some onto the streets in protest.

Chants of “Workers of the world unite!” and “IT union zindabad” rang out across Bengaluru’s Town Hall and Freedom Park on Friday, as hundreds of tech employees gathered for a May Day rally organised by the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) and the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU). 

For a workforce more accustomed to code reviews than street protests, the turnout itself signalled a shift. “We never imagined we would be here,” said 29-year-old Ashwini, a software developer working in Electronic City, holding a placard calling for job security. “But things feel very uncertain now. It’s not just layoffs, it’s the feeling that your role can change overnight, and you’re expected to keep up without any support.”

Another participant, a data analyst with five years of experience, said the pressure to constantly reskill had begun to blur the boundaries between work and personal life. “After work, you’re not really off. You’re learning something new – AI tools, cloud, whatever is next. You’re paying for it yourself, and you don’t even know if it will help you stay relevant.”

The unease, which was visible among the techies who had turned up for the May Day rally, is increasingly shaping life inside Bengaluru’s tech corridors.

Reskill or perish

At 11.45 pm, in a one-bedroom apartment in BTM layout, Aswin* is still at his laptop. The workday is long over, but Aswin is not done yet. An engineer with Microsoft, Aswin is watching tutorials, testing tools, trying to understand how artificial intelligence might reshape the job he thought he knew.

“It’s no longer enough to be good at what you do,” he tells DH. “Last year, the company had very clearly communicated to us that the world has changed. And if you don’t change with it, you won’t have a place here,” says Aswin with a nervous laughter. 

Across companies, employees describe a sharper tone in internal messaging. Aswin recalls that the company leadership emphasised how existing skills may not suffice in the near future, especially for those hesitant to adopt AI. 

Engineers are expected to integrate AI into daily workflows – be it from writing code to managing processes, with the implicit promise of higher productivity. But that promise comes with pressure. “There’s this expectation that output can multiply many times over if you use AI well,” he said. “So you’re constantly wondering if you’re doing enough,” he goes on to add. 

This shift follows a turbulent period for the tech industry. Global giants such as Meta Platforms and Google have cut thousands of jobs while ramping up investments in AI. In April this year, Meta said it would reduce around 10% of its workforce, even as it doubled down on artificial intelligence. The same week, Microsoft announced voluntary buyouts in the United States.

In India, the signals have been just as stark. Tata Consultancy Services indicated a 2% workforce reduction in 2025, while Infosys terminated contracts of hundreds of trainees. Hiring has slowed dramatically: one estimate suggests that India’s top IT firms collectively added a net total of just 17 employees in the first nine months of FY26, compared with nearly 18,000 a year earlier. 

For many workers, the response has been to invest in themselves. This often comes at personal cost.

Courses in generative AI, cloud computing, and data engineering have become near-essential. But they are rarely funded by employers. “People are spending tens of thousands on courses,” said Rashmi*, an employee with accenture. “There’s no guarantee it will lead to stability. But you feel like you have no choice,” she adds. 

For mid-level employees, there is also a sense of being reset. Engineers with several years of experience speak of starting over and trying to catch up with tools that did not exist when they entered the industry.

For freshers, the challenge is sharper still. Campus hiring has slowed, entry-level roles have thinned, and automation is beginning to replace tasks once assigned to juniors. The result is a growing bottleneck, with graduates waiting longer to break into the sector.

Rising cost of living

Beyond offices, the impact is quietly reshaping everyday life in Bengaluru’s tech hubs. Rising rents in areas like Whitefield and Electronic City, combined with stagnant salaries in some segments, are forcing adjustments, forcing techies into smaller homes, longer commutes and delayed plans.

“It’s not that everyone is losing jobs,” said the data analyst who attended the rally. “It’s that you don’t feel secure enough to plan your life anymore. I moved to Bengaluru from my hometown in Odisha because I was offered a package that my hometown could never match. After I came here, because of the high rent, medical bills and cost of commute, especially with autos increasing rates following the CNG price hike, my quality of life is worse than back home,” he adds. 

For city-based labour lawyer Avani, these anxieties are unfolding alongside deeper structural concerns. She points to widespread violations of labour protections in the IT sector - from forced resignations to denial of benefits - often going unchallenged because workers are unaware of their rights.

“There are cases where employees are pressured to resign in groups, with threats about their future prospects,” she said. “Management frequently avoids negotiation, and workers are left with very little bargaining power.”

She added that AI, while potentially useful, is also being used in ways that can disadvantage workers - delaying increments or restructuring roles without transparency.