Big Tech’s budget cuts are also affecting Indian information technology (IT) players, signaling an increasingly difficult business environment.

India’s third largest software exporter – HCL Technologies – has laid off 350 employees worldwide who worked on its customer Microsoft’s news-related products.

These employees were laid off from all regions, including Guatemala, the Philippines and India.

The company did not comment on the layoffs, but its spokesman said, “Our technology and services vertical continues to show robust growth and is one of the fastest growing segments for us.”

Big tech players like Microsoft, Google and Meta are already asking their employees to increase productivity and reduce expenses like travel.

A few weeks ago, several contract workers at Facebook’s Austin office who moderate content were reportedly told they had received marching orders, an insider report revealed. Facebook parent company Meta Platform wants to shift more work to Singapore. That means that of around 600 Accenture employees on Facebook projects, 400 are expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year.

Meta has slowed the pace of investment in newer projects amid the drop in sales.

Microsoft was among the first big tech companies to lay off about 1 percent of its total workforce of 180,000 in July, followed by 200 more in August. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella called it part of the realignment.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai also recently hinted at layoffs to make the company 20 percent leaner/more efficient after employees were internally urged to improve performance.

Analysts believe these project-related budget cuts cannot be dismissed as “overall budget cuts.”

Former US-based retailer Macy’s also wrote to its IT vendors saying it would cut discretionary spending.

“We see certain projects being impacted. This is clearly US-centric. Companies want to control costs as they have invested heavily in technology over the past year and a half,” one analyst noted.