India importing American greed, employee cynicism: Zoho’s Vembu

Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu criticised India's growing corporate culture in a post on X, which he described as a cultural import from the US, warning that it has caused many employees to become cynical about long-term commitment to their work.

“This behaviour, sadly, has become all too common in the US corporate world and we are importing it in India. It has only resulted in large-scale employee cynicism in the US and we are importing that too,” Vembu said in his early morning post today.

“This is why (we) choose to remain private. We put our customers and employees first. Shareholders should come last,” Vembu added.

Vembu argued that while layoffs to boost profits have become a celebrated trend in the US, this was not the case there 50 years ago. He highlighted that US companies became industry leaders by prioritising their employees, in response to a user comment.

Vembu also criticised the "shareholder first" mentality fuelled by private equity and Wall Street, warning that it ultimately won't benefit shareholders either.

“This private equity and Wall Street-led "shareholder first" world does not work. It won't even work out well for shareholders,” Vembu added.

In response to another user's question about why hiring thousands isn't as praised as layoffs are criticised, Vembu said, "Employees switch companies whenever they want because companies fire whenever they want." He added, "Building deep tech requires years of focus, dedication, and trust in leadership. Companies that don't earn that trust won't be long-term champions."

In recent years, employee loyalty and cynicism have emerged as significant and pressing issues that workplaces are grappling with. A recent report, Happiness at Work - How Happy is India's Workforce? 2024, revealed that nearly 70% of respondents were dissatisfied with their roles, and over half were considering resignation, especially those who felt undervalued at work. This prompts the question - what is fueling this surge in dissatisfaction? Is it the persistent work-life imbalance, the growing demand for hybrid and remote work, or erratic employer behaviour?

Organisational cynicism in India has grown notably since the 1990s, largely fuelled by the rapid expansion of the IT sector, characterised by frequent mergers, acquisitions, and mass layoffs often disguised as “rightsizings” or “downsizings.” These shifts, combined with unethical corporate leadership, short-sighted decision-making, and greed, have led employees to question the value of corporate loyalty.

Organisational cynicism, defined as a negative attitude towards one’s employer, manifests in beliefs that organisations lack integrity, negative emotions towards the company, and critical behaviour aligned with these views.