‘Negative list’ for data transfer in works; Flipkart’s reshuffle & Amazon layoffs

Also in this letter:
■ Amazon to slash 9,000 more jobs
■ Flipkart rejigs VP-level positions
■ Full Stack by Samidha Sharma

‘Negative list’ for data transfer in works: IT MoS

The Centre is likely to notify a “negative list” of countries to which data pertaining to Indian users cannot be transferred, the minister of state for electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar told us. This change is being mooted in the upcoming draft of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill (DPDPB), 2022. As a result, cross-border data flow will be enabled across all countries “by default” unless a nation is on the negative list.

Quote, unquote: “The government will have the right to restrict certain geographies and will decide the criteria for restriction criteria,” Chandrasekhar said. This will mean that the government will have a “blacklist” of countries to which cross-border data flow will be disallowed.

Practical approach: Experts are of the view that notifying a “restricted“ list of countries is a more practical approach. Ashish Aggarwal, who is the head of Public Policy at technology industry lobby Nasscom, said that “roughly some 200 countries have to be evaluated based on a criteria, which can be long-winded, how can one do that assessment.”

Amazon is laying off another 9,000 employees across AWS, Twitch, advertising

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a blog post on Monday that the tech major will slash another 9,000 jobs in the next few weeks. He said the fresh round of layoffs will affect staff mostly in Amazon Web Services or AWS, Amazon People eXperience and Technology ( PXT), advertising, and Twitch, a live streaming platform for video gamers.

Not the first time: The development comes just months after the e-commerce giant in January this year said it will lay off over 18,000 employees, amid a rush of other tech companies downsizing their head.

Also read: Layoffs in 2023: Amazon, Disney, Meta among latest firms to cut jobs amid economic downturn

Round two at Facebook, Disney: Facebook-parent Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it would slash 10,000 jobs in a second round of mass layoffs. The fresh layoff is in addition to the 11,000 employees or 13% of its global workforce Meta had sacked in November last year in a bid to cut costs. Meanwhile, Disney has reportedly directed managers to submit a list of employees who will be laid off over the next few weeks in a bid to cut costs.

Flipkart rejigs VP level positions amid exits and cost cutting

Walmart-owned Flipkart has undertaken a reshuffle in its vice-president-level executives in some of the key operating categories, according to an internal note sent to all its employees last month.

Usual exercise: Typically, Flipkart does this change every three years at this level to allow its VPs to head different businesses, according to a source aware of the changes. Essentially most of these VP-level executives will roll into reporting to executives at the SVP level.

Flipkart Quick scaled down: All of these changes are also taking place at a time when Flipkart has scaled down its Quick grocery play to a few cities and will largely focus on just offering fresh groceries through this channel. Flipkart in a response to ET’s queries said that it is not shutting down its quick commerce business entirely.

Tweet of the day

Full Stack: SVB, Meta, YCombinator and rumbles in the tech jungle

Hi, Samidha here. I am back with another edition of Full Stack. Thanks so much for all the feedback from last week. Please keep the bouquets, brickbats and suggestions coming. You can mail me on [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @samidha

State of play in Silicon Valley: This week, I am talking about the non-stop news cycle around Silicon Valley Bank, Facebook and Y Combinator, all of which are emblematic of Silicon Valley’s dominant power in the tech world. The back-to-back episodes – from a bank failure to a tech giant laying off thousands to a big shot startup accelerator ending one of its most hyped initiatives– signal the course correction currently underway in tech’s epicentre after years of excesses in the sector.

This has been among the hardest years for the US tech industry, and continues to be so as big firms like Amazon cut jobs in thousands. On Monday, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company will slash another 9,000 jobs in view of an uncertain economic environment.

No major shake-ups in India yet? While the US technology world reels under intense pressure across private and public markets, Indian companies haven’t faced even 10% of the stress yet. Much of the new-age tech world has yet to reset, locally, the way the US has, leaving much more room for corrections in businesses. I predict this will take more time to unfold here in India.

Read the full column here.

Banking crisis in the West may hit tech expenditure at home, say analysts

The $245 billion Indian IT business process management industry, which draws 41% of its revenue from banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), could get affected by the ongoing banking crisis in US and Europe, according to analysts.

Future spending may be affected: Analysts have cautioned that the downfall of major banking institutions could result in not only a decrease in current business, but also cause reduced technology spending and postponed deal closures in the future. Companies including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, and LTIMindtree have significant involvement with US banking institutions, and may face potential consequences if the crisis escalates.

BFSI’s importance: According to industry association Nasscom, the BFSI sector leads enterprise IT spending and offshore outsourcing, providing over 41% of industry revenue in FY23. With a revenue of 35% from the BFSI sector, Wipro leads TCS (31.5%), Infosys (29.3%), and HCLTech (20%). Among the leading IT companies, Tech Mahindra has the lowest proportion of this industry at 16%.

PhysicsWallah developing products to enter K-12 segment

Edtech company PhysicsWallah is working towards entering the K-12 segment next year with digital learning products that would be made available through both online and offline channels, people aware of the matter said.

Cutting overheads: PhysicsWallah plans to market its courses through physical bookstores and stationery shops to reduce the marketing overheads, one of the people said. Physicswallah’s product is going to be based on various forms of storytelling, unlike Byju’s product which is heavy on animation, hence is expensive.

Edtech in turmoil: PhysicsWallah plans to enter the K-12 segment comes at a time when funding has slowed down in the edtech sector, with investors becoming cautious as demand for online courses has taken a hit after the reopening of schools and offline coaching centres.

Other Top Stories By Our Reporters

Karnataka’s panel clears Foxconn’s Rs 8,000 Crore mobile phone unit in Bengaluru: The State high-level clearance committee headed by chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday cleared a proposal from the Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) to set up a mobile phone manufacturing unit near the international airport in Bengaluru at an investment of Rs 8,000 crore.

Investors to take ‘wait and see’ approach with late-stage startups: BCG report | The funding slowdown in India, which is paired with a large amount of unallocated dry powder, could lead to investors taking a “wait and see” approach on late-stage startups, a report titled ‘Road to Hyperscaling in India’ published by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Times Bridge, and TiE Delhi-NCR said.

India ranks first in South Asia for government requests for user data from Big Tech companies | India ranks first in South Asia for government requests for user data from Big Tech companies, revealed the Report on Government Requests for User Data published by Surfshark research hub, on Monday.

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