80 Indian employees fired in five-minute Google Meet call, Reddit post claims

Around 80 Indian customer-service employees working for a US-based financial firm were allegedly laid off together during a Google Meet call that lasted barely five minutes, according to an account shared by one of the affected workers on Reddit. The employee claimed that the entire India customer-service team was dismissed without warning during an evening shift, turning what appeared to be a routine online meeting into a mass termination. The identity of the company has not been disclosed, and the claims made in the social-media post could not be independently verified.

Five-minute call

According to the employee, the team had been asked to work from home and was on a shift beginning at 6.30 pm when workers unexpectedly received an invitation to join a Google Meet around 9.30 pm. During the meeting, they were allegedly informed that the entire Indian customer-service operation was being terminated. The employee claimed that all 80 members of the team lost their jobs during the brief call and expressed frustration at the abrupt manner in which the decision was communicated.

The worker said the experience had left employees questioning the security offered by corporate jobs despite the time and effort they invested in their roles. The post also reflected anxiety over finding another job after the sudden termination, particularly because the affected employees had apparently received little time to prepare for the possibility of unemployment.

Performance concerns cited

In a subsequent response to questions about why the Indian team had been laid off, the employee claimed that the company was dissatisfied with its performance and was “not getting the expected output from Indian team”. The worker also criticised comparisons allegedly being made between the performance of employees in India and their counterparts in the United States.

No statement from the company has emerged publicly confirming the layoffs, their scale or the reasons behind them. It is therefore unclear whether all 80 employees were permanently terminated, whether severance or other benefits were provided, or whether the customer-service operation was being shifted elsewhere.

Layoff debate returns

The account has nevertheless drawn attention online to the way companies communicate large-scale job cuts, particularly when employees working remotely can receive termination notices through short video calls rather than individual meetings. Similar instances of workers learning about layoffs through virtual meetings, emails or sudden loss of access to company systems have prompted wider debate over whether employers should adopt more transparent and humane procedures when eliminating jobs.

In this case, however, the available information rests on the account of an individual claiming to be an affected employee. Without confirmation from the company or independent documentation, the circumstances surrounding the reported dismissal of the 80-member Indian team remain unverified.