Zomato, Apple reportedly cut nearly 250 roles amid tech layoff wave
Zomato and Apple have reportedly eliminated nearly 250 roles as technology companies tighten costs and redirect investment toward AI. The cuts come alongside broader reductions at Uber and PayPal, including 220 India roles at the payments firm.
What happened
Zomato and Apple reportedly cut nearly 250 roles as technology firms pursue cost control and AI investment. PayPal is also reducing 220 jobs across its Chennai,
Key facts
- More than 6,300 tech roles cut worldwide in the first 10 days of September 2026
- Uber reportedly eliminating about 3,300 positions, roughly 10% of its global workforce
- PayPal reducing India headcount by about 4%, affecting 220 employees
- Zomato and Apple collectively eliminated nearly 250 roles
- Nearly 1.3 lakh technology employees lost jobs globally during 2026
Why this matters
Workforce rationalization across delivery, payments and device ecosystems may create acquisition and partnership openings for AI capabilities, automation and lower-cost operating assets.
What to watch
- Zomato headcount disclosures, restructuring charges, and management commentary on adjusted EBITDA or contribution-margin targets.
- Changes in delivery times, cancellation rates, customer-support response times, restaurant churn, and rider incentive spending after workforce reductions.
- Hiring patterns for AI, data, ad-tech, and automation roles versus continued freezes in product, operations, and corporate functions.
- Competitive promotional intensity from Swiggy, Uber, and other delivery platforms, especially in major urban markets.
- Further India technology layoffs at payment, mobility, and consumer-internet firms, indicating that the cuts are sector-wide rather than company-specific.
- Evidence of demand softness, lower order frequency, or pressure on take rates that would turn efficiency actions into deeper retrenchment.
- Prioritize automation in customer support, order exception handling, merchant onboarding, advertising operations, and internal finance functions.
- Protect delivery-partner supply, restaurant account management, trust-and-safety, and high-frequency customer-service coverage to avoid deterioration in fulfillment quality.
- Rationalize low-return geographic expansion, experimental products, and duplicative corporate functions before reducing growth-critical teams.
- Increase variable-cost arrangements with vendors and strengthen productivity metrics for technology, marketing, and support teams.
- Use AI investment messaging to frame restructuring as a productivity redeployment rather than a broad demand-led retrenchment.