We are in the midst of layoff season. While the world is shocked to see large internet companies like Meta and Twitter fire employees, the Indian startup scene has also suffered. So, what led to this, what is happening now, and what is yet to come?
Race to Mass Layoffs?
Adding to the difficulties in Silicon Valley is the possibility that Amazon will announce layoffs that will affect up to 10,000 workers. Following Microsoft, Twitter, Snap, Meta, and Twitter, Amazon is the next big tech company to lay off employees. There has also been a decrease in recruiting at Apple and other companies.
In the wake of fears of a worldwide recession, technology companies, traditionally large spenders, are now turning to cost-cutting.
Mass Firings: What Led to This?
From January 1 to June 1, 2022, the market capitalization of the top 30 technology companies decreased by $4.3 trillion. These 30 companies represent the majority of the value of the global tech market.
At least $5–6 trillion was lost in the global listed tech market as a whole. The top 30 businesses account for $4.3 trillion of this. In actuality, the combined contribution of Apple and Microsoft to this market value decline is close to $1 trillion.
From June to August 18, the market value of the top 30 tech companies experienced a $900 billion recovery.
What's the situation in India?
Many edtech companies have let go of employees, including Byju's and Unacademy. It was reported that Unacademy had laid off 1,150 employees, while Byju's laid off 550 employees, not far behind Vedantu, which had laid off 624 employees.
Meanwhile, MFine laid off 600 workers, Ola fired 500 people, and Cars24 reported 600 job losses. In all cases, layoffs were caused by tighter monetary policies and a correction in the stock market.
How About the Attrition Rate?
In addition to layoffs, IT organizations have experienced high attrition rates. Labor costs and the cost of acquiring talent led to squeezed operating margins for all IT majors during the previous quarter.
During the first quarter of FY23, Indian IT companies spent, on average, 57% of sales on employee salaries, with some, like Infosys, raising their top performers by one or two digits. TCS's attrition rate for Q4 of FY22 was 19.7%, much higher than Infosys's 17.4%.
In Q4FY22, HCL Technologies experienced an increase in attrition from 21.9% to 23.8%. However, Wipro has managed to keep attrition rates relatively stable, dropping from 23.8% to 23.3% between April and June.
Dreamland Duty: Your Blueprint to a Blissful Slumber
September 21, 2022
Dr. Manan Mehta
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We recently conducted a survey of the young to middle-aged urban population and found alarming rates of sleep deprivation. Only a quarter of the respondents were getting 8 hours of sleep, and the majority of them indicated waking up tired and needing more rest.
Besides being essential to life and survival, sleeping affects our mind body soul. Counting sheep is not as simple as closing your eyes and closing your eyes.
Neuroscientists define sleep as a state of active unconsciousness, in which the brain is in a state of relative rest and is reacting primarily to internal stimuli. Simply put, it is a state where the body slows down in almost all departments, none more so than the brain.
Why do we sleep?
It may sound strange, but we still don't know exactly why humans and other animals sleep. A variety of theories are being proposed in current research, including the Inactivity theory, the Restoration theory, the Energy conservation theory, and the Brain plasticity theory.
It has been found that muscles repair themselves, tissues grow, proteins are synthesised, and growth hormones are released predominantly during sleep. The body has decreased metabolism by up to 10% during sleep. During sleep, the brain's structure and function are reorganised and grown.
Stages of sleep
There are essentially four stages of sleep – 3 stages of Non-Rapid Eye Movement, Sleep, and Rapid Eye Movement. These stages typically occur in 90 to 120-minute cycles. The body ideally needs 3 to 4 such cycles for restful rebuilding.
Now, this is a tricky question. The importance of sleep in infants' and children's brain development explains why infants need to sleep upwards of 14 hours a day. Geriatric patients can swing from managing with 5 to 6 hours a day or needing nearly 12 hours of sleep as age advances.
A minimum of 6 to 8 hours of sleep is recommended for adults in order to maintain excellent emotional wellness. This includes a majority of it as interrupted night sleep with an optional power nap during the day; and no more than 9 to 10 hours of sleep.
"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." - Benjamin Franklin
Problems associated with sleep deprivation
What we do know for sure is that chronic sleep deprivation has tremendous effects on mood, productivity, immunity, and metabolism.
In addition to an increase in the frequency and severity of infections, chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to a number of other health problems, including depression, anxiety, obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes, as well as reduced fertility rates and mental disorders.
Insomnia is defined as difficulty falling or staying asleep accompanied by daytime impairments related to those sleep troubles.=
It can be of two types - chronic insomnia disorder and short-term insomnia.
Insomnia, whether short-term or chronic, has certain symptoms in common. There are different types of sleep issues associated with those symptoms, including those related to nighttime sleep when a person experiences at least one of those types of sleep issues:
Sleeping problems
Not able to lead happy healthy life.
Not being able to stay asleep through the night
Getting up too early in the morning
Teenagers and children who resist sleeping at bedtime
Children and teens who have difficulty sleeping on their own (without the assistance of a caregiver)
There are also several daytime symptoms related to sleeping problems that must be present as well:
Tiredness
Memory or attention problems
Working, studying, or socially performing poorly
Mood disturbances or irritability
Feeling sleepy
Hyperactivity or aggression are examples of behavioural issues
Motivation has decreased
Accidents or mistakes occurring more frequently
Sleep concerns or dissatisfaction
For chronic insomnia to occur, symptoms must be present three times per week for a minimum of three months. Short-term insomnia is characterised by less frequent episodes and less than three months of symptoms.
Having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep is not explicitly defined in the diagnostic criteria for insomnia. Adults may suffer from insomnia if they take longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep or are awake during the night for more than 30 minutes (20 minutes for children).
Causes
Recognising why you are not sleeping well is essential to treating the problem.
Lack of opportunity to sleep or a disruptive sleep environment. Poor socioeconomic status, cramped living, small children, or dependents needing care.
Medical disorders like Prostatomegaly or Diabetes causing frequent urination, OSA or sleep apnea, aches and pains, acid reflux disorder, thyroid disorder, etc
Sleep procrastination syndrome - it's the only me time and free time you get. So you keep scrolling mindlessly through social media sites and videos and articles.
Screen time: Most of our survey participants were on a screen minutes before sleep. Melatonin, an important sleep hormone, is regulated by the brightness of light falling on your retina. Gadget screens thus keep pushing the brain into an active state.
Anxiety - generalised, work-related, social, emotional. We all live in overloaded, busy, and stressful times.
Just not enough time due to work and travel.
All of us will be sleepless on some occasions or through certain phases of life. Recognise the issue and embark on a holistic approach toward solving it. Disciplined screen time, a more natural unwinding schedule, fixed waking hours, appropriate meals and meal times, and adequate exercise are some of the first steps we must take.
Diagnosing and treating underlying medical disorders with a physician's help comes next. Then, if need be, some pharmacological support. Emotional, social, financial, and even generalised anxiety shouldn’t be ignored.
An overwhelming majority of our respondents (primarily 25-40-year-olds) stated work and work-related anxieties as major obstacles to adequate sleep. Emotional anxieties were a close second. Therefore, workplace wellness programs are more than necessary to help employees.
If only a fourth of our young, upwardly dynamic population are waking up naturally and feeling fresh, there is definitely something afoot that doesn’t augur well for the future. So pull up your eye masks and switch off the lights! Enough of hand sanitisers. It's time for some sleep hygiene.
Good luck and Good night!
Corporate News
Report: Indian startups reduce full-time hiring by 61%
November 18, 2022
The Wellness Tribe Team
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India is experiencing severe hiring cutbacks, according to a recent study released on Monday, showing that permanent staff recruitment has decreased by 61 percent over the last 12 months.
From October 2021 to September 2022, data were collected from more than 25,000 Indian workers working at more than 1,000 companies in 20 different industries.
A recent report from Razorpay's business banking platform RazorpayX Payroll reveals a 1,300% decline in hiring for chief experience officers (CXOs).
Due to the changing dynamics of the startup environment, employment trends have changed significantly over the last year.
The Indian startup ecosystem has proven to be robust and adaptable despite recent challenges. Taking macro forces into consideration, entrepreneurs have formed smaller but more powerful teams to maximize their workforce. Many businesses are cutting their workforces in the midst of the financial winter.
Another report from my back-of-the-envelope assessment indicates that startups and major tech firms have laid off more than 5,000 Indians in the last month.
According to some predictions, the Indian economy is anticipated to lay off 16,000 workers by the end of 2022. It seems nobody's job is safe, not even at global behemoths like Twitter or Byju's.
Even though there was a decrease in hiring, the total wage paid to full-time employees increased by 64.7%. It was noted in the survey that the increase in income, particularly among the highest-paid professionals, is not distributed equally between the sexes.
Although employment has declined overall, technology hiring appears to have been the least affected. Technology-related occupations have managed to slightly boost their contributions to the total workforce by 4%, even though the hiring trend has generally slowed down.
A Look at the Gig Economy
It is apparent that companies prefer gig workers over permanent employees as the number of permanent employees has declined. The number of payments made to gig workers has grown by 153% since October 2021. A semi-gig worker model is now being used by 15% more businesses than it was previously.
According to the survey, the majority of semi-skilled gig workers employed by startups earn less than Rs 20,000 per month, followed by those who earn between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000.
Interestingly, these employees have among the weakest growth rates, averaging 26% and 52%, respectively.
Research shows that competent gig workers with earnings between Rs 85,000 and more than Rs 150,000 have experienced the fastest growth over the last year, even though they contribute the least to the overall pool.
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