Microsoft owned open-source developer GitHub laid off more than 140 employees in India on Monday, and the company announced that the move was tough but essential. GitHub has around 3,000 employees around the world.
To reduce costs, the company has removed approximately 10% of its staff and immediately stopped hiring new employees. Even the employees who were performing well in the company were hired. GitHub provided a two-month salary as compensation. This came as a huge shock because India is the world's biggest developer market and a gigantic technical hub.
The company’s reason was that "compared to other countries, India has a smaller team and less important stuff, so for them it was unwanted. As other countries have more important tasks for the company’s growth and India has fewer and fewer prioritised tasks, it was selected by GitHub. GitHub’s CEO, Thomas Dohmke, said, "I know it is a tough period for you all, and we approach this period with the utmost respect for every employee. He further added, "We are announcing a number of difficult decisions, including the departure of some Hubbers and the work on new budgetary realignments, created to save our business’s short-term growth while also allowing us to invest in our long-term plan."
