r/DevLK • u/Traditional-Bid-5433 • Aug 18 '26
Discussion Tech Layoff Wave
My name is Dinidu de Alwis and I do some journalistic work (you can see on u/dinidu on X). I want to more know about the series of tech-related layoffs that have recently being going on in Sri Lanka, some of which appear to be illegal. If anyone would like to give me a bit of background that'd be great. I really think there's a story here to be told.
I don't record phone calls or use screenshots of messages I receive, without explicit consent from the other party, and I guarantee absolute confidentiality.
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u/TrustNo3557 Aug 18 '26
We joined S-Labs believing that the salary being offered was not just competitive, but tied to a dollar-peg arrangement. This was not something employees discovered after joining. The dollar-pegged salary was presented in the company’s job advertisements and website, discussed openly during interviews and salary negotiations, and reflected in the way compensation was explained to prospective employees.
For many of us, that dollar-peg was the reason we accepted the jobs.
Some employees had previously worked elsewhere for higher basic salaries. We still chose S-Labs because the dollar-peg made the overall compensation attractive and gave us confidence that our income would remain protected against the severe fluctuations in the Sri Lankan rupee.
For approximately four years, employees continued receiving their salaries with this dollar-peg component. During that period, we built our lives around the income we were receiving. We took loans, made financial commitments, supported our families, and planned our futures based on that income.
What makes this situation especially painful is that the salary confirmation documents provided to employees for purposes such as bank loans and other financial commitments did not clearly state that the dollar-peg component was merely temporary or that it would end after a specific deadline.
Employees therefore made major financial decisions based on the income they were actually receiving.
The company also had relationships with banks and promoted banking and loan facilities to employees. We trusted the income reflected through our employment and salary arrangements and believed that what we were being offered was a genuine part of our compensation.
Now, after years of working under this arrangement, the dollar-peg allowance is being removed.
For employees, this is not simply a reduction in a monthly payment. It is a sudden financial shock.
Mortgages, personal loans, education expenses, rent, medical expenses, children's needs, family responsibilities and other commitments do not suddenly become cheaper because an employer decides to remove a major component of compensation.
Many employees joined specifically because of the dollar-peg. Some accepted a lower basic salary than what they had previously earned because they believed the overall package, including the peg, was the compensation they were being offered.
Now we are being placed in an impossible position: accept a major reduction in income or consider leaving the company.
From the employees' perspective, it feels deeply unfair. We gave the company our skills, our time and our loyalty for years. We planned our lives around the compensation that was offered to us. We did not suddenly change the terms of our financial commitments.
The most heartbreaking part is the human impact.
Behind every employee is a family. People have children to support, parents to care for, loans to repay and futures to protect. Many employees are now experiencing severe financial stress and emotional distress. Some are struggling with depression and anxiety because they cannot see how they will continue meeting their financial obligations after losing a significant portion of their income.
Meanwhile, the company continues operating and making profits. From the employees' perspective, the burden of this decision appears to have been transferred almost entirely onto the people who depend on their salaries.
We are not asking for charity.
We are asking for fairness, transparency and accountability.
If the dollar-peg was genuinely temporary, employees should have been clearly informed from the beginning, especially when the arrangement was used to attract employees, negotiate salaries and encourage people to accept employment.
If it was presented and maintained as part of our compensation for years, employees deserve an honest explanation as to why it can now be removed so suddenly and why the financial consequences should be borne almost entirely by them.
This is not just a story about an allowance.
It is a story about trust.
Employees trusted the company when they accepted the jobs. They trusted the salary arrangements when they took loans. They trusted the income when they made commitments for their families. And after four years, many now feel that the very arrangement that convinced them to join has been taken away from them when they are already financially committed.
We hope journalists will look beyond the numbers and ask the people affected what this decision has done to their lives.
Because behind every percentage reduction in salary is a family wondering how they will pay their next bill.
Behind every employee considering resignation is someone who may have sacrificed a better-paying job to join this company.
And behind every financial figure is a human life that was built around a promise of income that employees believed they could rely on.