Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu tells staff no hike this year, tries to avoid layoffs

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has informed the employees that they will not receive the company’s usual annual salary hikes this year, as the company grapples with the increasing costs related to artificial intelligence and the uncertain business environment and global geopolitical challenges. In a post shared on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) Vembu said that the outlook for the software industry remains uncertain and that AI has significantly increased operating expenses for companies such as Zoho. As per Vembu, the server prices required for data centers have surged four-fold, while increasing usage of AI tools has led to much higher expenses that the company is attempting to control.