About 120 employees working across various departments, including editorial, camerawork, graphics, fact-checking, the data intelligence unit, Aaj Tak Radio and other divisions at India Today Group, were asked to resign without prior notice, with "restructuring" cited as the sole reason for the decision. Those who complied with the directive were given two months' full salary, while those who refused to resign were terminated and paid only two months' basic salary.
The mass layoff without prior notice and proper reasons, which happened between 20 and 24 July, drew widespread criticism, as Newslaundry reported that a majority of those affected belonged to the group's Hindi digital platform, although staff from several other divisions also lost their jobs.
One employee recalled being summoned to the Human Resources department barely half an hour before the end of his shift at the company’s Noida Sector-16 office. In the presence of his manager and an HR representative, he was informed that it was his final day and instructed to submit his resignation, along with his laptop and identity card. When he questioned the decision and sought an explanation, he was told there was no deficiency in his work and that the company was merely undergoing restructuring.
In most cases, the manner of seeking resignation was, as narrated by one employee, like receiving a summons from the Human Resources department half an hour before the end of the day's shift at the company's Noida Sector-16 office, where the manager and an HR representative informed him about the resignation and asked him to return his laptop and identity card. It was not due to any shortcoming on his part; rather, "restructuring" was the answer the employee received when he enquired about the abrupt end to his employment.
According to a Newslaundry report, most of the affected employees were given the same explanation. In other cases, several were also asked to state the reason for their resignation, with some writing that they were resigning at the management's insistence. The layoffs affected both recently recruited staff and long-serving employees, many of whom earned between ₹25,000 and ₹30,000 a month.
The retrenchment comes amid a sharp decline in the company’s financial performance. Reports indicate that India Today Group’s net profit fell by 81 per cent to around ₹14 crore during the last financial year, while revenue dropped 19 per cent to nearly ₹807 crore, attributed largely to reduced advertising income, restructuring costs and losses in its radio business.