Zoho Puts Salary Hikes on Hold: Sridhar Vembu Makes Key Announcement

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has revealed that the software company is going through a challenging period amid rising artificial intelligence (AI) costs and market uncertainty. He announced that salary hikes would be temporarily put on hold and that budgets for marketing and other departments had been reduced. Vembu expressed regret over the decision, explaining that the company needs to take difficult measures to navigate the current business environment.

Vembu also said Zoho is making efforts to avoid mass layoffs amid the challenges facing the software industry. He noted that the company had not increased its workforce over the past 18 months and thanked employees for understanding the situation. According to him, Zoho is currently exploring new approaches, and the next three to five years will determine the outcome of these efforts. He shared these remarks in a detailed post on X.