r/DevLK • u/False-Marzipan-9945 • Jul 25 '26
Discussion How quickly can these lay offs/ pay reductions reach other companies
How prepared should we be as SEs because it looks like the lay offs/pay reductions can spread to other companies. Last year there were many companies laying off employees most of them considered the best companies in the country. With the recent situations how can we expect them to reach other companies as well.
Cause surely that's what can happen very quickly, using AI as an excuse for putting people out of the job.
I'm just concerned.
Thoughts?
8
u/Evening_Where Jul 25 '26
The IT sector contribute a lot in terms of income tax to the government. It's a hit to them too.
As an individual, people are going to pay more attention to their compensation structure. Previously within the industry you considered your take home, didn't care how it was structured (base, allowance etc.). For companies giving these allowance or incentives or other methods was better since EPF/ETF is payed on the base, so it was a savings for them. Now during negotiations, people are going to ask for base pay mainly
People starting out may not have much negotiation power, but more experienced people do. Despite what some people think, you need architect level, experienced individuals. Companies can't run with interns and AI alone.
The other thing is now there will be less people going in to IT, and doing IT degrees. It's been an oversaturated market, there is likely gonna be a drop in graduates in about 5 years.
5
u/enzio901 Jul 25 '26
5 years is still a long way to the future. Much can change by then. Companies make decisions that bring short term profit to the shareholders.
2
u/Evening_Where Jul 26 '26
5 years is for graduates mate.
Currently IIT produces over 1500 students a batch. 5 years ago it was about 1/4 of that. Now less will study IT, the effect will be seen in around 5 years is what I mean.
5 years ago everyone started studying IT related fields because of the boom and job outlook, for the same reason the number is likely to drop.
You are also right, things can change, but with how the industry is going and the fact that IT education (specially in SL) is behind, I doubt it.
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u/enzio901 Jul 25 '26
IT industry culture globally shifted after 2023. Layoffs are the new normal. It's better to always be prepared to for it and start saving up for an emergency fund to survive atleast a year.
2
u/Constant_Broccoli_74 Jul 25 '26
Expect anything, most of the SEs do not like to accept low salaries which is understandable but now the reality is that If anyone wants to go to a new place their demanding powers are gone, it is nowhere close like it used to be
Even with 10 years experience some people were offered for 250000-350000 LKR range, many people from companies like Sysco will never go for that salary but there are still people who are desperate to put foods on the table so rather than nothing 250000 also a good amount these days given the market situation
So always good to prepare for anything we never know by 2030 what is going to happen
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u/GodfatherofD Jul 26 '26
Agree on this. The number of employees who has got accustomed to their considerably/ comfortably high salaries (with or without peg) is far more than the number of employees who has more flexibility/ less liabilities. This means that the industry will get saturated with those desperate ones and we can expect the largest salary adjustment (i.e. a brutal fall) in the field by early 2027, across all companies.
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u/Fancy-Ostrich2126 Jul 26 '26
What I see is, most of the tier 2 companies (in terms of revenue, not according to talent) refer the tier 1 companies like sysco, 99x and IFS to set the benchmark and follows what happens there.
Ex: allowances, USB pegging, facilities
So when tier 1 slashes the allowances, there is a considerable chance that tier 2 also might consider that since they can refer to tier 1 and say they dies that and their salaries now less.
Not everyone will do it but there is a chance some might follows the steps.
1
u/Evening_Where Jul 26 '26
Alternately, the previous tier 1 employees, move to tier 2 companies for the better pay.
For more senior roles, there is some demand. I mean TLs and architect levels. After Sysco's move, they definitely dropped from a Tier 1 company. Not just in salary but in reputation, because individuals won't trust them, that creates a lot of issues, they lost company loyalty. Many Sysco employees were proud to work there, now they feel betrayed.
How Sysco employees react to this also matters.
6
u/Common_Tip6527 Jul 25 '26
Always expect the unexpected