💡Decoding Layoffs & the Future

Hey there,

’You’re Fired.’

No! No! We didn’t mean to scare you😨

But imagining this email is actually sent to some of the corporate employees gave us *chills* .. *literal chills*

We never thought post-Diwali & festival would give us, in fact, would give every employee a haunting vibe than being nostalgic & grateful.

And I’m sure you must have understood what this edition is going to be all about.

So, let’s calm our heartbeat down a bit and,

Let’s decipher the layoffs and what’s happening in the market:

📉The Great Daunting Layoff

Big tech giants like Google, Apple, Meta, and Twitter are in the news every day.

In fact, unicorns like Byjus, Zomato has also joined the queue of ‘Breaking News’.🗞️

And NO! not because of some milestones that they’ve achieved, but rather because of the firings & layoffs that are happening. Globally, more than 42,000 workers have lost their jobs.

The Reason?🤯

Yes! there would be stagflation that might hit the economy in the coming year, but … Does that mean it's the only thing why companies are cutting headcounts rapidly?

Well, Maybe Yes, Maybe No!🤷🏽‍♀️

Let’s analyze both these answers:

🤔 The actual forces behind the Layoff

From engineers to service functions, some may blame it on the economic slowdown, some condemn the pandemic and others are pointing it to too many hires during the growth period. While acquisition also plays a big role here, well in the case of Twitter at least.

Not just that, the menace is also a result of overconfidence among management about the future potential as well as consumer behavior.✅

During the pandemic, e-commerce experienced a boom. It led to gaining attention from the investors. But the moment the pandemic ended, companies faced a drastic shift in the behavior of consumers.

It all, in the end, resulted in less-than-stellar earnings, and what's happening now can be seen as something of a correction. And whenever companies start trimming costs, they always start by chopping down the labor.

Hence, layoffs became the norm during such times of uncertainty.

But if not downsizing, what more companies could do to survive the economic slowdown?

Let’s analyze the probable solutions:

🫂The Perfect Alternatives of Downsizing:

While companies may try to snitch the strings as tight as possible, layoffs seem inevitable in many cases, and to ensure future financial profitability, these are some steps organizations could take:

1. Exploring More Channels Instead of Slowing Down:

Instead of taking the defense route & start cutting costs, organizations should look at the bright side and start exploring additional opportunities like (a) Adding More Sales Channel (b) Increasing the market share, etc.

2. Focussing on the Present Assets:

In the case of stagflation, organizations can start focusing on training their laborers to get more from the existing customers. Upselling, Cros-sell, Taking client’s feedback, and changing the business process as the situation demands, should be on top of the priority list.

3. Freezing the Hiring than Exploiting Current Workforce:

A hiring freeze for a given period, typically until the business sees signs of returning to its normal operations & back on the profitability track is also a great way to abolish downsizing.

4. Technology is always a Friend in Need:

Many organizations don’t prefer to invest much in technological advances when the economy slows down. But considering making changes in the workflows during the time of slowdown can be seen as a positive influence on the overall business. For eg., Retail organizations can start adding more stores or improving the existing ones, or investing in CRM.

In conclusion, once the problem or the trend of slowdown is identified, addressing the situation properly can help tackle the issues like a pro!😎

📚Story of the Week: Xeno Diwali Rockstars (Brands @ Xeno generated 21% incremental revenue)

Amid all the layoffs & disheartening news, what kept our celebrations ongoing is the results of the Diwali 2022 campaigns of our partner brands.

Brands at Xeno performed remarkably well in the festival season and drove around 21% incremental revenue this year using Xeno's CRM. Here’s a sneak peek for you:

We’ve documented the strategies of these brands in our recent blog, read the full story, Here: How Brands at Xeno generated an uplift of up to 21% this Diwali💥

🥳Team Xeno at the Middle East Retail Forum 2022

We recently attended MRF 2022 in Dubai and from meeting all the Emirati Retail leaders to delivering keynote sessions ourselves, it indeed was a great event for us💓 p.s. We’re still not over with the event memories.

That’s all for today.

If you know anyone who’s been affected by the layoffs lately, Xeno is hiring for multiple positions. Check out the open positions at Careers @ Xeno | Forward this email to them, we’re open to welcoming new talents🤗

Till then, hope you have the brightest week ahead. 💪🏼

Until next time,

Anisha Arora

Marketing & Content Strategist, Xeno