Zoho unable to provide pay rise to employees due to AI costs, ‘pray for us’, says co-founder Vembu

Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu announced that the company cannot offer the customary pay rise to its employees this year due to the soaring costs associated with AI technology. In addition to cutting its marketing budget, Vembu expressed his regret for not managing to avoid this situation. He further warned that the general outlook for software jobs is bleak and that the company has not been expanding its workforce for the past 18 months.

Vembu ended his message by stating that his team is currently reinventing itself, with the next 3-5 years crucial to determine the success of this reinvention.