iWorld
Business Today bests global publishing giants to win three design awards from Society of Publication Designers
Mumbai: Business Today magazine has won two Best Spread Design awards and one Best Spread Illustration award from the New York-based The Society of Publication Designers (SPD), in its annual awards for 2022.
The two Best Spread Design awards were awarded for two stories– On Cloud Nine and The Transformation of Nestlé – and the third award has been given to the story HR Turns SaaS-Y for Best Spread Illustration. Business Today competed with the likes of The New Yorker, The New York Times Sunday magazine, The New York Times Sunday magazine for Kids, Garden and Gun, The Economist, Fortune, and Fast Company, among others.
Commenting on the accolade, Business Today editor Sourav Majumdar said, “We are delighted that BT has won these prestigious design honours from SPD. Design is an integral part of a magazine, and at BT we believe that today’s reader demands a product which is an amalgam of both top-quality writing and high visual appeal. These honours spur us to do even better.” India Today Group group creative editor Nilanjan Das, of which Business Today is a part, said, “In the world of business, Business Today is a path breaker. The design is intelligent and visually stunning, and we have shown it again and again by winning the best design awards around the world. Really proud to be leading such a talented design team.”
Business Today deputy creative editor Anirban Ghosh said, “I am very happy to get recognised and awarded by SPD, New York. It’s not just my win, but a win for the whole editorial team, the desk, reporters, our editors, and a lot of others who are closely associated with the entire process. Editorial design is not a process in isolation, it is teamwork. So it’s not only a design award, but the whole team deserves it.”
On Cloud Nine, a story by Nidhi Singal that was published in the 24 July 2022 issue of Business Today, spoke at length on the attempts of organisations to move into a multi-cloud environment, a complex and intricate technology setup that requires great expertise and brings extensive benefits. The visual played on the idea of cloud, and displayed nine benefits of multi-cloud computing to match the headline.
Also published in the 24 July 2022 issue of Business Today was The Transformation of Nestlé, written by Arnab Dutta, which spoke of how the food major rebuilt its reputation after the Maggi crisis and is now on its way to becoming a solutions company. “In this visual, we worked along the idea of a ‘Nest’, which is part of the classical logo of Nestle. We created a semi-circle around the logo to create a mood for the overall story. It’s like showing readers the tip of an iceberg and drawing them into the story,” said Ghosh.
The third award was given for Best Illustration Spread to HR Turns SaaS-Y in the 26 June, 2022 issue. The story by Vidya S. spoke of how SaaS start-ups are helping companies iron out kinks in their HR processes including in hiring, interviewing, employee engagement, and rewards & benefits, among other HR processes. On the design, Ghosh commented, “I wished to break the mold of usual design, mulled over AI, machines and so on. I tried something unusual not used in magazines, but in art galleries. I am grateful to my team for supporting such creative ventures. Such work helps break the monotony of typical design and breaks new ground.”
Business Today is India’s business news and analysis platform. In addition to the magazine, Business Today has an extensive network of digital channels, social media channels and television programming, with a combined reach of more than 20 million users.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
