‘Time to earn loyalty is now’: SaaS unicorn Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu on great layoffs

The bulletin board these days is incomplete without layoff news. From tech behemoths to start-ups and small businesses, everyone is taken over by the “great layoff wave.” While the current situation is unfortunate, Software as a Service (SaaS) company Zoho’s founder Sridhar Vembu has a take on this issue which might benefit entrepreneurs and companies. He believes that this is a time to “earn the loyalty” of employees. 
 
In a post on social media platform, Twitter, Vembu wrote, “During the bubble and the Great Resignation, entrepreneurs often complained about lack of employee loyalty. I always felt we cannot demand loyalty, we have to earn it. The time to earn that loyalty is now, as economic uncertainty deepens. I hope smart entrepreneurs earn it now.”
 

According to a report by layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi, 551 tech companies have laid off over 1.65 lakh employees in 2023 alone. Last year, according to this platform’s estimates, 1053 companies around the globe laid off 1.64 employees.
 
The latest to do so include start-ups and tech giants such as Spotify, McDonald’s, Hulu, Unacademy, Zest Money, among others.
 
While layoffs are happening in every nook and corner of the world, Vembu in another Twitter post also addressed concerns around artificial intelligence (AI) eliminating jobs. 
 
“That question really comes down to "who owns the magical AI" - are there monopolies that extract rent? Indians get practically free digital payments because UPI is a common digital good. That analogy applies to AI well. Public policy has to ensure that no one monopolizes AI,” he wrote. 
 

Vembu concluded the post by saying that he is an optimist and with AI taking on jobs, people will have more time for their hobbies, spiritual pursuits and other activities.
 

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