AI Wave Hits Adidas India? 50% Staff Fired!

Some of the biggest companies in the world have been firing their employees at an elevated pace. Recently, companies like Oracle, Meta, Microsoft and others have announced major workforce cuts, particularly across their technology divisions.

Now, a similar development has reportedly taken place at the Indian establishment of leading sportswear giant Adidas.

According to reports, the company has laid off nearly 50% of its workforce at its Gurugram head office in India. The news started circulating earlier today, with reports suggesting that nearly half of the employees at the office have been shown the exit door.

Adidas reportedly had around 700 employees at its Gurugram head office, and around 350 employees may have been affected. However, the exact number of layoffs has not been officially confirmed yet.

Software engineers and data scientists are also reportedly among those affected by the latest restructuring. If the reported numbers are accurate, the scale of the cuts would be significant for the company’s India operations.

The development has also raised fresh questions about the growing impact of Artificial Intelligence on the global job market. Several large companies have been investing heavily in AI while restructuring their technology teams. AI tools are increasingly being used for coding, data analysis, customer support and other tasks that were traditionally handled by larger teams.

However, it would be premature to attribute the Adidas layoffs entirely to AI without an official explanation from the company. The cuts could also be linked to broader business restructuring and changing operational requirements.