iWorld
Team BigBasket scores a last minute winner to clinch the title of the inaugural ‘LinkedIn ESPN Office Sports Quiz’
MUMBAI: LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network in association with ESPN, the one-stop destination for all things sports, concluded the first season of LinkedIn ESPN Office Sports Quiz with team BigBasket winning the finale. The contest witnessed tough competition between corporates, with BigBasket surging ahead at the last question to list the trophy. The first season of the LinkedIn ESPN Office Sports Quiz witnessed participation from 2246 working professionals from 1123 teams from different quarters. All the episodes of the quiz are available on ESPN India, ESPNcricinfo, social media platforms – ESPN.in Facebook, ESPN.in Instagram, ESPNcricinfo Facebook, ESPNcricinfo Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn Network.
Gaurav Kapur, a renowned television presenter, and the quizmaster for the three semi-finals and final, said, “I used to think I knew my sports thoroughly until I anchored the LinkedIn ESPN Office Sports Quiz. During the quiz, I thanked my stars for being on the other side of the table as this is one of the toughest contest I have been a part of and can safely say that this show has helped me enhance my knowledge of sporting trivia. My best wishes to the BigBasket boys, for stealing the trophy from team GyaanSpace on the finals straight.”
Team BigBasket participants Rohit Suresh and Shriram Sundararajan are now set to travel to England in October to watch an English Football League match live from the stadium. Both Rohit Suresh & Shriram Sundararajan expressed great enthusiasm at winning the quiz. Avid sports fans and athletes themselves, the duo claimed that their preparation for the quiz primarily comprised of watching sports on television and following ESPN and ESPNcricinfo regularly.
Akshaya Kolhe, Head of Sales, ESPN, said, “At ESPN we strive to constantly tap into the whole spectrum of our sports fan base through concerted efforts to diversify our engagement and content, using different channels and formats. This partnership with LinkedIn has been a fruitful one for us as we were both able to harness our reach and scale to provide true sport fans with a platform to test their knowledge and demonstrate their passion for sports.”
LinkedIn ESPN Office Sports Quiz is an effort to unite sports enthusiasts from different walks of life and in different stages of their careers through their passion for sports. Participants of all age groups representing reputed organizations spanning Information & technology, Banking, e-tailing, Edutainment and other sectors from across Indian cities were united through their passion for sports during this quiz. The participants were put through rigorous online qualifying rounds, semi-finals and final across three weeks, that culminated with team BigBasket taking home the coveted trophy.
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.
