Listen: Rs 20 lakh crore govt stimulus package; Gartner revises IT spending projections; Zomato layoffs

The latest episode of the TechThisWeek podcast brings you news and insights, wrapped up in a weekly roundup of the following hand-picked developments in the startup and enterprise technology ecosystems in India.

• With phase 4 of lockdown likely in the picture, PM Modi in his speech this week, hinted at new guidelines and opening up the economy with caution. The govt has announced an economic stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore, which is being rolled out in a phased manner.
• Bengaluru-based mid-tier IT firm Mphasis posted a 33% rise in net profit and a 16% rise in revenue for the March quarter, seeing a minimal impact of Covid-19. This week, technology research firm Gartner revised its global IT spend for 2020 saying that companies will cut expenditure by 8% in 2020, with the overall IT budget expected to fall to $3.4 trillion, due to the Covid-19 crisis. In January, the firm had projected that IT spending would grow to $3.9 trillion globally in 2020.
• San Francisco headquartered social networking company Twitter announced that some of its employees can work from home permanently provided their work does not require an office.
• Following the trend, online test preparation platform Unacademy also announced that it will allow 60% of its workforce to continue to work remotely after the Covid-19 lockdown is lifted.
• Alibaba-backed food delivery platform Zomato announced its plans to lay off 13% of its workforce among other cost-cutting measures to tide over the Covid-19 crisis. CEO Deepinder Goyal said in an open letter that he expects the number of restaurants to shrink by an estimated 25-40% over the next 6-12 months due to the lockdown.