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Shravanth Vijayakumar · · 6 min read

Tech layoffs put the spotlight on outsourcing

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Hello reader,

Mass job cuts in the tech sector have been going on for some time now. In fact, Tech in Asia first spotted the trend in April last year and began keeping tabs on layoff figures across Asia’s startup ecosystem through our tracker.

Since we started compiling the data, more than 152,000 pink slips have been handed out in the region. That provides for quite a grim reading, even against the backdrop of high inflation, rising interest rates, and an uncertain macroeconomic climate.

However, one person’s loss is another’s gain: Singapore-headquartered TDCX (TDCX, NYSE) is keen to make the most of the abundance of top tech talent currently in the labor market.

Freed from the intense competition of luring top-tier workers against deep-pocketed rivals, the business process-outsourcing (BPO) firm has grown its workforce by over 33% between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022.

It has thrived by prioritizing customers from the “new economy,” which refers to high-growth tech firms with an “employee-lite, nimble business model,” and by placing an emphasis on revenue-generating functions such as customer experience and digital marketing. Further, the profit-making company expects up to a 21% rise in annual revenue.

In today’s featured piece, my colleague, Melissa, sits down with Laurent Junique, founder and CEO of TDCX, to uncover how the firm has flourished amid market chaos by providing multilingual support across various sales touchpoints and to discuss why Malaysia – TDCX’s largest revenue contributor – has been a “powerhouse” for outsourcing.

Further, the premium story explores potential M&A opportunities for TDCX and the challenges it faced last year, while also touching on why Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific will remain central to the long-term growth of the BPO.

— Shravanth


THE BIG STORY

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Amid tech layoffs, NYSE-listed TDCX eyes outsourcing opportunity
As tech companies face a reckoning, will the Singapore-based BPO firm’s bet on the “new economy” pay off?


3 Trends to keep an eye on

Hot stocks, earnings reports, restructuring, pressure from activist investors, and more.


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TIA Writer

Shravanth Vijayakumar

Fascinated by all things tech, business and sport. Always down for a healthy discussion on these topics. Feel free to reach me at shravanth.vijayakumar@techinasia.com