Trouble's brewing in Kochi's IT scene. Two companies, CorroHealth Infotech Private Ltd. and Talrop Private Ltd .,just let go of over 1,100 employees in weeks. Workers are protesting, worried about job security with AI and new labor laws shaking things up.
July 3,2026, CorroHealth,a U.S. healthcare analytics firm,pulled out of Kerala. Around 800 employees blindsided. Fatima, a senior medical coder there for four years, called it surreal. “It all feels like nightmare now,” she said . Employees couldn't even re-enter offices post-announcement.
The company blamed operational losses,citing a downturn in its Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) vertical. Severance? Two and a half months' salary . Many say it's not enough for such sudden exits.
A week after, Talrop,a Kochi-based venture managing a ₹250-crore ecosystem,also closed shop. Over 300 jobs gone. They admitted they were “not built for the AI era,” sparking debates on AI's role in job losses. Protests flared with claims of salary delays,some unpaid for nearly a year.
This reflects a global IT trend . Giants like Microsoft announced big cuts,about 4,800 jobs. Since October 2025,over 100,000 job losses tied to AI advancements.
For many, timing couldn't be worse. Sreelakshmi K.,once at CorroHealth,lost her job just after securing a home loan. “We were about to start building a house,” she said. Now, she's hunting for work in a tight market.
Fatima and Sreelakshmi doubt AI's the real culprit. “Management started with AI story just a week ago,” one Talrop employee said,pointing to old salary issues. Jones Joseph,Talrop's CEO,blamed external factors like regional conflicts for funding woes .
Spotlight's on labor protection in IT. Kerala's Labour Minister,Bindhu Krishna, suggested CorroHealth might've breached the Industrial Relations Code, 2020,by not notifying the government 90 days before closing. She's urging the Union Labour Minister to step in .
Trade unions push for stronger worker organization in Kerala . Sudip Dutta,president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU),called the layoffs illegal,stressing unionization to safeguard rights. He doubts AI's replacing jobs, saying companies focus more on AI investments than job creation.
Uncertainty lingers for Kerala's IT workforce post-layoffs. Employees face a tough job market,questioning career sustainability as technology keeps advancing...
