Is AI The Real Reason Behind Global Layoffs? Zoho's Sridhar Vembu Weighs In

After healthcare unicorn Innovaccer carried out its third round of layoffs impacting employees both in the US and India, Zoho's Sridhar Vembu said blaming job losses on AI is convenient.

Innovaccer carried another round of layoffs as the company transitions to an “AI-native” company structure, according to the company CEO Abhinav Shashank.

Nearly, 340 employees across India and the United States will be affected, as per a report by Inc42.

In an X post, Zoho Corporation's Founder Sridhar Vembu said,"How is it that in the US, the AI leader, a good part of the population, even a lot of college students, have come to hate AI? It does not help that companies are blaming job losses on AI, which is both convenient and as an added bonus, makes a company look visionary."

Also Read: Chennai’s Rs 993-Cr Suburban Rail Gets Approval: Here’s Why It Matters

Zoho's Sridhar Vembu Decodes The Truth Behind US Layoffs

"The layoffs are related to rising cost pressures - we experience those pressures too so we know this first hand. The economic picture is getting grimmer. The AI investment bubble has kept the US economy afloat but that can only go on for so long," he tweeted.

Further, he noted that the world is witnessing the "gradual collapse of the post World War 2 global economic and political order."

"Before you think "orange man bad", this process was well under way with the global financial crisis in 2008-9. That is why I said "zoom out", think in decades. Note that the iPhone-unleashed mobile revolution did not prevent the GFC. AI will not magically cure global imbalances," he said.

“We must prepare for tough times ahead. I would be happy to be proved wrong, so please present ideas that disagree with this,” he said.

Netizen's React To Sridhar Vembu's Virat Tweet

Replying to Sridhar Vembu's latest post, a X user penned, "Coz AI is arriving during a period of fragile macro and institutionl strain, so it amplifies anxiety rather than soothing it."

Another X user said, "AI is to be hated, if there's Job Reduction instead of Job replacements. Very Few are focused on Job creation with AI than just focusing on AI capabilities."

Meanwhile, a third X user, "When companies say AI made us do it, they usually mean we wanted to cut costs and AI sounds better than saying we’re struggling.