iWorld
Shemaroo hopes to grow at 38% CAGR over the next few years
MUMBAI: For the last three-four quarters, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd has been guiding for softer margins due to investments in multiple initiatives. Among other initiatives, the new streaming service ShemarooMe and device business have also left an overall impact due to the higher investment. However, the company hopes to reap benefit from the new initiatives both in terms of margin and top-line. Despite some cyclical issues, the company hopes to grow at 38 per cent CAGR or higher over the next few years.
“If you see even for this quarter, the people expenses are up by about 40 per cent. Other expenses are up by 50 per cent. So, there is a certain investment that is being done. There are certain cyclical aspects, how long they will last? We do not know. So, it is very difficult for me to guide for the rest of the year because the economy is in a certain state,” Shemaroo Entertainment CEO Hiren Gada commented in an earnings call after Q1 FY 19 results.
But he also noted that over the last several decades of being in business, they have seen many cycles which have been regarded as opportunities to actually build longer-lasting and better return businesses.
While new media growth also slowed down to 25 per cent from 35 per cent, the telecom segment contributed 40 to 45 per cent to the overall revenue and the rest of the contribution was equally split between YouTube and syndication having 27 to 30 per cent. Though YouTube and syndication both continue to grow more or less equally fast, Gada hopes that over the next few quarters, ShemarooMe also will kick-in in terms of monetisation and revenue.
“Telco piece is now in a phase where that business is transitioning from a feature phone product to the smartphone; the market itself is transitioning from feature phone to smartphone. So, that is the whole aspect of that business. So, that business in a way you can say will be shrinking over the next few quarters,” Gada added.
Despite overall growth in the YouTube segment, the growth in revenue has been significantly lower compared to viewership growth as the realisations on a CPM basis, the ad rate basis continue to fall.
“So, this quarter, definitely YouTube has at least grown or come back into the growth trajectory or rather, I would say remained in the growth trajectory which it was towards the end of last year that has continued. So, that is one thing, in terms of the overall growth of digital media, I think one is that the base is now significantly higher. So, definitely that base effect is bound to kick in. That is one reason for the slowdown,” Gada added.
Shemaroo recently launched its over-the-top platform ShemarooMe in a market where more than 30 players are trying to win over consumers. Rather than creating web series or acquiring the latest and greatest movie blockbusters, Shemaroo has focused on segmenting the audience based on consumer needs.
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.
