Innodata reportedly lays off about 550 in India, more in Philippines; shares slump over 25%

US-based AI data services company Innodata has laid off close to 550 employees in India and an undisclosed number in the Philippines, according to a report by India Today that has since been carried by several outlets. The terminations took effect on Monday, 26 October, and the news sent the company’s Nasdaq-listed shares tumbling by more than a quarter during trading on Tuesday, 27 October.

What is known about the cuts

The figure of nearly 550 job losses in India comes from India Today’s report, which cited an employee familiar with the matter, People Matters and Millennium Post noted. Affected workers set up a WhatsApp group that had grown to roughly 500 members by Monday evening, though it could not be verified that every member had lost their job. A 28-year-old engineer based in Delhi was among those quoted.

In the Philippines, posts on Reddit from people identifying as Innodata staff described dismissals of raters, quality experts, team leads and operations managers, with some saying the news was delivered on a Zoom call. HRKatha and People Matters said teams linked to a client project were among those hit. No number has been given for the Philippine cuts.

Innodata had not publicly confirmed the total number affected, and no official statement was available when India Today contacted the company, according to Investing.com. Its annual report put its global headcount at a little over 10,000 at the end of 2025.

Abrupt exits, locked laptops

Employees described a sudden process. Access to company laptops, accounts and official IDs was cut off in the middle of the workday, and termination letters arrived later on personal email addresses. Several workers told reporters that they had received no call from HR and could not download payslips or other employment records because their access to HR and payroll systems had been revoked. Final settlements are to be paid by demand draft once company assets are returned, according to People Matters.

The stated reason

The termination email, as quoted by People Matters, attributed the decision to a ramp-down of the business assignment the employee was working on and said it was not linked to individual performance. It did not say which assignment had been scaled back or how many staff were affected. Workers in the Philippines linked the redundancies to a drop in work from a major client, but the outlets that reported this said the claim could not be independently confirmed. The Motley Fool suggested that investors feared the loss of a large AI customer, an interpretation rather than a confirmed fact.

Share price reaction

Innodata stock fell about 16% to $49.88 in pre-market trade, Seeking Alpha reported, and the slide deepened after the opening bell. Investing.com said the shares fell about 28% at one point, their steepest intraday drop since February 2024, while the Motley Fool recorded a fall of about 27% to $43.76 in early afternoon New York trading. Final closing figures were not available in the sources reviewed.

What to watch

Innodata, headquartered in New Jersey and founded in 1988, provides data engineering and annotation services used to train AI models. The company is due to report third-quarter results on 5 November, when investors will look for clarity on client demand and the scale of the restructuring. Rahul Singhal took over as chief executive on 30 September, with long-time CEO Jack Abuhoff becoming executive chairman, according to a company filing.

Sources

• People Matters: InnoData lays off nearly 550 employees in India, job cuts reported in the Philippines
• Millennium Post: Laptops locked, IDs disabled as Innodata lays off 500 in India
• HRKatha: Innodata layoffs hit India and the Philippines
• Investing.com: Innodata stock tumbles on report of layoffs in India and Philippines
• Seeking Alpha via TradingView: Innodata stock falls as report flags layoffs in India, Philippines
• The Motley Fool: Why Innodata stock crashed today
• Kalkine Media: Innodata announces Rahul Singhal as CEO and Jack S. Abuhoff as Executive Chairman