How Zynga‘s job cuts may impact Indian staff

Online gaming company Zynga's decision to lay off 520 employees may impact its Indian headcount as well. According to reports, around 400 employees were working for Zynga in India as of April 2013. "We are not commenting about specific offices - the impact will be felt across every group in the company," said a company statement in response to an e-mail query by ET.

The US-based gaming company started its India operations in 2012 and has an office in Bangalore. According to media reports, during his maiden visit to India in April, CEO and founder Mark Pincus had said that after San Francisco, India was their biggest centre and has been a 'terrific investment' for the company.

The firm started its India branch with 25-30 employees and has hired constantly since then. Around 16 management graduates from IIMs including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta and Kozhikode were roped in 2012 for the profile of product managers. Shan Kadavil, country head for Zynga India, refused to comment on the India impact of the layoffs.

The company did not share any other details of what level of employees would be asked to leave from the India office and the kind of severance package that would be given. The layoffs are expected to get completed by August.

The global workforce reduction of 18% of the overall staff count was announced to save an estimated $70 million to $80 million in pre-tax annualised cash expense. "Zynga also expects to record an estimated $15 million reversal of stock-based expense in the second quarter of 2013 as a result of the net impact of these workforce reductions," the company said on its website.