Zoho has rubbished an anonymous post claiming 300 employees were laid off without warning. This anonymous allegation, which first surfaced a day ago on the Blind app, hit a sore spot for Zoho — the Indian multinational technology company prides itself on a 30-year ‘no layoffs’ streak.
Zoho told HT.com in an emailed statement this evening that its 3-decade no-layoffs streak remains unbroken.
Zoho’s ‘no layoffs’ record
Zoho did not lay off employees during the Covid pandemic of 2023, nor during the AI race which began in late 2023. Zoho co-founder and then-CEO Sridhar Vembu also confirmed in 2023 that his company has no plans to lay off employees even amid slowing revenue growth.
So when a Zoho staffer took to Blind to claim that he was among 300 employees silently laid off by Zoho, the claim naturally made waves.
For the uninitiated, Blind is an anonymous professional community where verified employees can discuss workplace issues. Unlike Reddit, Blind requires a company email for verification, which lends a layer of credibility to posts that appear on the platform.
“Got laid off from Zoho”
In the post, the Zoho employee wrote: “Recently got laid off from Zoho without any prior notice.”
The post went on to claim that approximately “300 trainees were suddenly let go” by Zoho, apparently after a full-time employee remarked that the company was planning to replace seniors with trainees.
“I had chosen Zoho over other offers like TCS, Cognizant, and Capgemini because I was genuinely excited about the opportunity. At those companies, I might have at least had some stability, even if it meant being on the bench for a while,” the staffer said. “This situation has hit me hard. I come from a financially struggling background, and this job wasn’t just a career step. It was something my family was depending on.”
Zoho’s response
In a statement to HT.com, Zoho said that the post erroneously conflated the company’s internship programme with full-time employment.
No full-time Zoho employees were let go, said Mohammed Sohail, Associate Director – Talent Acquisition, and Global HR Operations at Zoho Corp. He explained that being an intern does not automatically guarantee a full-time offer.
Read his full statement below:
“The post in question appears to conflate our internship programme with employment. These are distinct: internships are learning engagements that do not automatically guarantee a full-time role.
“From the 2026 intern cohort, over 30% of candidates have already received offers or are currently under evaluation for full-time employment. This is in addition to the freshers who were hired, and will be joining as employees after completing their course.
“Describing interns who were not offered a position as ‘laid off’ is factually incorrect. Interns who demonstrated exceptional ability have been or will be absorbed into the company. Others will complete their internships as scheduled, and will be free to apply for other jobs.”