Innodata India Lays Off Nearly 550 Employees Abruptly, Systems Deactivated

Innodata India Pvt Ltd has reportedly laid off nearly 550 employees in India without prior notice, with workers abruptly losing access to company systems and receiving termination emails, according to India Today. An affected 28-year-old engineer in Delhi was among those impacted by the sudden job cuts. Employees described their laptops being logged out and official IDs deactivated by lunchtime on what began as a regular Monday.

The day started with employees logging into their systems and marking attendance as usual. By midday, workers gradually began losing access to their company laptops. According to an employee reported by India Today, news then circulated that Innodata's Philippines team, including raters, quality experts, team leads, and operational managers, had been fired during a Zoom call meeting. Following this, workers in India checked the company’s HR portal, discovering that their payslips had been generated, with October 26 listed as the official date of resignation and the last working day.

Employees attempted to reach out to their managers, who were reportedly also taken aback by the news. As workers tried contacting the HR team, they progressively lost access to their official devices. An employee stated, “Laptops were logged out, and official IDs deactivated.” Job cuts have also been reported among the company’s team in the Philippines, as per the report.

Innodata is a US-based data engineering and artificial intelligence services company, headquartered in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. The company supports technology firms in building and improving AI systems through services such as data labelling, model training, evaluation, and safety testing. Its website lists prominent organizations like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Snowflake, Boeing, and Deloitte among its clientele.

What to watch: Further details on employee severance and potential legal actions.

Editor's note: The report is accurate and captures the essential details of the layoff event, including the company background and the specific experiences of the employees.