The announcement, which will affect one of the largest neighborhoods in southern India, comes just weeks after Twitter cut 90% of its workforce in the same region, causing local businesses to question big tech’s commitment in South Asia. While the company continues to make cloud investments in the country, it’s clear that mass tech layoffs so far have had a huge impact on the South Asian market. Despite India having one of the largest online growth markets in the world, the country is still heavily reliant on independent neighborhood stores — which account for 90% of the country’s retail sales — despite its ecommerce market being worth an estimated $39 billion, according to the Guardian. Competition is fierce, with Google and Microsoft both operating cloud services in the region, however, this just proves that there is still a big drive to invest in other areas in the South Asian market.
