Do Fair-Weather Tech Companies Need Regulating?

COVID-19 is creating a great deal of disruption in the market. Technology itself, which was seen as the great saviour for most companies, is having a reverse effect on some, which were founded on a tech base.

- Neluka Jayasinghe

These app-based organisations must go through various adjustments to stay in business post-pandemic. With their employees and customers in full or semi-lockdown and social distancing becoming the norm for everyone, the app companies are furiously upgrading their existing programmes to fit new social needs and fill the gaps in their operations.

Technology companies are also moving fast on the ground, looking to recover the losses and find fresh opportunities that did not exist in the pre-lockdown times.

Some tech-based companies spread across the world are re-evaluating their businesses and making changes that will hugely impact the people who are already dealing with the fallout from the global pandemic. One company making such cutbacks is Uber, which has faced challenges due to some parts of the world going into full lockdown and curfew conditions, resulting in no movement and the closure of food outlets and restaurants.

Uber has announced that it would be concentrating on its core ride-hailing business and delivery platforms, which means it is considering layoffs around the world. It has also announced that it would move its Asia Pacific hub, which was set up to support its markets in countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand.

Its explanation is the company is resizing to match the realities of its business, given the unpredictable nature of any eventual recovery from the pandemic’s impact.

Multinational companies like Uber have the luxury of withdrawing their services from any country in the blink of an eye, when they feel it is no longer profitable to run. Such is the nature of their business and cutbacks are made with impunity as technology companies by their very nature and makeup have only fibrous roots in any country they operate.