‘This is naked greed’: Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu shreds Indian company for firing 660 workers | Trending

In a veiled dig at Chennai-based Freshworks, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu slammed the company for its “naked greed” after it laid off 660 people in shock layoffs, a day after it announced a $400-million buyback and its shares soared 28%.

While Vembu did not name Freshworks in his X post, he said that a firm with over a billion dollars in the bank is choosing to prioritise shareholders by laying off staff. He said after such a move the company should not expect its workforce to remain loyal.

“A company that has $1 billion cash, which is about 1.5 times its annual revenue, and is actually still growing at a decent 20 percent rate and making a cash profit, laying off 12-13 percent of its workforce should not expect any loyalty from its employees ever. And, to add insult to injury, when it can afford $400 million in a stock buyback,” he wrote in a lengthy post on X.

Take a look at his post here:

“I can understand the unfortunate reality of layoffs when a business is struggling or declining and making a loss. This is not that situation, this is naked greed, nothing less,” he said.

Vembu came down heavily on the company asking if it lacked vision and empathy to make such a move. “Don’t you have the vision and imagination to invest $400 million in another line of business where you can deploy those people you hired but you don’t want anymore? Are there no such opportunities in tech? Are you so lacking in curiosity, vision and imagination? Are you so lacking in empathy?”

Dennis Woodside, CEO of Freshworks, had announced on November 7 that the company will cut its workforce by 13 percent, which will see around 660 employees being laid off.

(Also read: Mohandas Pai schooled by Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu over ‘Bengaluru ignored’ remark)

The firm, which said the move to increase efficiency, has over 5,000 employees and has conducted multiple rounds of layoffs since 2024.

Interestingly, Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham previously worked at Zoho before he started his company in 2010. The companies have been at odds since 2020, after Zoho filed a lawsuit accusing Freshworks of stealing confidential information.