iWorld
ZEE5 Global wins ‘Digital Content Service of The Year’ at Telecoms World Middle East Awards
MUMBAI: ZEE5 Global, the largest global entertainment platform for Indian content, has been crowned Digital Content Service of The Year at the 2019 Telecoms World Middle East Awards in Dubai. The ‘Digital Content Service of The Year’ award recognizes OTT platforms, content providers or broadcasters in the region who have set themselves apart in a hyper-competitive industry. The award was received by Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global from a panel of judges at a ceremony held at The Conrad Hotel, Dubai on 24th September.
As the largest and most comprehensive OTT platform for Indian content worldwide, ZEE5 Global is well loved by not only Indians and South Asians across the Middle East but also the local population that loves Bollywood movies. ZEE5 Global’s library includes over 2000 movies including latest Bollywood blockbusters as well as TV Shows, exclusive Originals, 60+ Live TV channels and more, across 17 languages, making it a truly unparalleled global offering.
A freemium proposition, ZEE5 Global has been extremely aggressive in the Middle East market. The platform has already partnered with key players in the region to enable users to seamlessly access the premium content via telco billing and also built key offline retail partnerships with LuLu and Eurostar. ZEE5 Global has also recently partnered with Jalesh Cruises.
Amit Goenka, CEO, ZEE International and ZEE5 Global said “As we expand across the globe, we are deeply committed to offering a highly localised entertainment experience for our audiences across key markets. The Middle East is one of the most dynamic and competitive regions in the world, and we are extremely happy to have been recognised for our performance here.”
Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global said, “We are thrilled to receive this recognition within the first year of our presence in global markets. Telecoms World Middle East is a highly coveted platform and we are glad that our efforts and ambitions especially in an important market like the Middle East are being recognised. Through a strong tech backbone, key ecosystem partnerships, high quality content including a huge library of Bollywood movies, and well-defined audience strategies, this win further fuels our drive to deliver the best entertainment experience to our global audiences.”
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.
