No appraisal at Zoho, but Vembu doubles down on 'NRIs return from US' stance

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has doubled down on his stance, calling for the return of Indian-origin entrepreneurs and engineers from the US, saying "there are a million things to build in India". The renewed appeal comes on a day that the entrepreneur, who himself returned from the US to India, said there would be no performance appraisal and increments at Zoho this year.Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has doubled down on his stance, calling for the return of Indian-origin entrepreneurs and engineers from the US, saying "there are a million things to build in India". The renewed appeal comes on a day that the entrepreneur, who himself returned from the US to India, said there would be no performance appraisal and increments at Zoho this year.Hours after announcing the decision to forgo appraisals at Zoho, Vembu took to X on Tuesday to argue that Indians facing an increasingly uncertain future in the US should return home rather than struggle to stay in a country that no longer wants them."When another country tells you to go home, you come home. What is the alternative? Beg them to allow us to stay? Stay illegally? There are a million things to build in India, even if software is saturated or goes away," Vembu wrote. Vembu's remarks come amid growing uncertainty for Indian technology professionals in the US following the American government's move to bar eight IT firms, including Microsoft, Tata, Wipro and Infosys, from participating in the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme, a key step in the employer-sponsored Green Card process.VEMBU ANNOUNCED NO APPRAISALS IN ZOHO AMID RISING COSTSVembu's call for Indians to return home comes at a difficult time for Zoho, which is also attempting to rein in expenses amid rising costs associated with artificial intelligence. The Zoho founder said the company had been cutting costs across different areas, including marketing, as it seeks to avoid layoffs. The company has also decided against its usual annual pay increases this year.In a post on X, Vembu acknowledged the impact of the decision on employees and said he had apologised for being unable to avoid it."We have cut down on our marketing budget. We have also told our employees that we cannot have our usual pay increase this year," he wrote. "I have apologised for not being able to avoid this."The decision means Zoho employees will not receive their usual annual salary increases this year, with the company prioritising cost control amid mounting financial pressures.While he has urged Indians abroad to return and help build the domestic technology ecosystem, Zoho's decision to freeze annual pay increases underscores the financial constraints that companies in India are also confronting.- Ends