iWorld
Moneycontrol Pro acquires 1.5 lakh paid subscribers within a year of launch
MUMBAI: When Network18’s business news website, Moneycontrol, launched its paid service in April 2019, it did not expect that by 31 March 2020 its Moneycontrol Pro service will have acquired 1.5 lakh members.
“Moneycontrol Pro's success is very encouraging because it tells us there is a discerning public willing to pay for top-notch commentary, insights and analyses that help them to take informed investment decisions,” said Moneycontrol group consulting editor Manas Chakravarty.
Moneycontrol Pro’s aim is to serve readers with actionable insights into the stock markets, businesses, industries, economy and vital indicators to understand to help with their financial decisions. A survey commissioned in February found that 85 per cent users gave a thumbs up to the product and content.
Moneycontrol business head B2C revenues Manoj Nagpal said, “The subscription growth is a reflection of the trust and the value-added content subscribers are getting, adding that Moneycontrol Pro has been able to keep evolving in the past year and enriching the user experience. Keeping subscriber needs at the core of the offering and surpassing user expectations have been the driver of growth for Pro. Adding value to an astute Moneycontrol user is not an easy task, as it is arguably one of the most discerning and value audience in India.”
The company claims that the essence of Pro is high-quality content and constant product innovations. Moneycontrol offers a promise that its content -investment ideas from the in-house research team, sharp commentary and opinion that decodes a fast-changing economy, exclusive blogs are written by high-net worth individuals and market gurus – will not be found anywhere else.
By becoming a Moneycontrol Pro subscriber, a user gets access to technical analysis trading ideas from a hand-picked team of experts, a daily newsletter and a weekly wrap that makes sense of the biggest financial events. In addition, Pro subscribers can also unlock an ad-free experience on the app and desktop as well as perks, such as invites to exclusive events and offers for attending big-ticket conferences and seminars.
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.
