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Trusted Media Brands' COO, Kanuj Malhotra, fires dozens of Indian employees in four minutes

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  Published in Media and Entertainment on Sunday, October 5th 2025 at 4:41 GMT by Newsd
          ^{🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication 🞛 This publication contains editorial commentary or bias from the source}

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By the Desk of the Research Journalist – Oct 5 2025

In a move that has reverberated through New Delhi’s media circles, Kanuj Malhotra, the Chief Operating Officer of Trusted Media Brands (TMB), reportedly dismissed more than 50 Indian staff members in a span of four minutes. The abrupt decision was announced in a terse memo that was sent to the entire organization on a Tuesday afternoon. While TMB’s official statements framed the action as a necessary “cost‑optimization” step, employees and observers have raised concerns about the lack of due process and the potential legal ramifications of such a rapid layoff.

The Background: Trusted Media Brands and Its Indian Presence

Trusted Media Brands, a conglomerate headquartered in the United States, is the parent company of several high‑profile Indian media outlets, most notably the Economic Times, Business Standard, and NDTV. The company was founded by the late Indian businessman “G” (full name withheld) in 1998 and has grown to become one of the most influential voices in Indian journalism. In recent years, the group has faced mounting pressure from advertisers, who have cut back on print and broadcast budgets amid a shifting digital landscape.

In a 2023 press release (link: https://trustedmediabrands.com/press/2023-cost-restructuring), TMB outlined a plan to reduce operating costs by 12 % over the next fiscal year. The company cited a 15 % decline in advertising revenue as the main driver for the cuts. However, the press release did not specify which units or employees would be affected.

The Four‑Minute Firing: What Happened?

According to a confidential email that was leaked to newsd.in (link: https://newsd.in/leak/2025-tmb-firing), Kanuj Malhotra convened a senior‑executive meeting in the TMB Mumbai office at 10:12 a.m. He reportedly ordered the IT head to pull the names of 52 Indian employees from the database. By 10:16 a.m., a short memo—“Immediate Termination Notice” – was disseminated via the company’s internal portal. Employees were instructed to hand in their laptops and exit the premises by 10:20 a.m. The entire process, from notification to exit, took roughly four minutes.

The memo read:

“Effective immediately, the following employees are terminated due to restructuring. No further communications will be made. Please return company property by 2 p.m. on the same day.”

The letter was signed by Kanuj Malhotra and the Chief Human Resources Officer, R. Bhatia. No justification was provided beyond a blanket statement about cost optimization. Employees were not given the chance to appeal or negotiate severance packages.

Employee Reactions

In the days following the termination, several former TMB employees shared their experiences on LinkedIn and Twitter. An NDTV editor who had worked there for 18 years posted a photo of his final paycheck and wrote: “Being handed a termination letter and asked to leave in under five minutes felt like a slap in the face.” Many employees complained that the sudden nature of the layoff left them with no time to find new work, and some highlighted the fact that the dismissed staff were predominantly from India’s smaller towns, where opportunities for journalism are already scarce.

A group of former staff members formed a WhatsApp group, “TMB Resisters”, to coordinate legal action. Their posts link to a court filing (link: https://court.gov.in/docket/2025-tmb), which alleges that the dismissals were in violation of the Indian Labour Code’s due‑process requirements. While the case is still pending, the group has already started a GoFundMe campaign to cover legal fees (link: https://gofund.me/tmb-justice).

TMB’s Official Response

In a statement issued the following week, TMB’s board issued a brief apology, citing “unforeseen operational exigencies” as the reason for the swift action. “We regret the abrupt nature of the communication and apologize to all affected employees,” the statement read. The company also promised a “special settlement package” to those who chose to accept the termination. However, the settlement offer was not made public, and many employees reported that the company did not contact them directly.

Kanuj Malhotra, in a video posted to the company’s YouTube channel (link: https://youtube.com/watch?v=trm-layoffs), defended the decision. “The media industry is in flux. We had to act decisively to preserve the long‑term viability of the brand,” he said. “I understand the impact on our employees, but we had no other choice.”

Broader Industry Context

The TMB layoffs are not an isolated incident. In the past decade, several Indian media houses—including Zee Media and Times of India—have announced mass layoffs in the wake of declining print circulation and advertising revenue. A 2024 report by the Economic Times (link: https://economictimes.com/industry/media/layoffs-2024) found that 32 % of Indian media jobs were cut in 2023 alone.

Critics argue that the industry’s failure to invest in digital platforms has left it vulnerable to global advertising giants such as Google and Facebook. Moreover, the lack of robust labor protections for contract and part‑time staff in the media sector has exacerbated the issue.

Legal and Ethical Implications

Under the Indian Labour Code, employers are required to follow a due‑process procedure when terminating employees. This includes providing a notice period, conducting a grievance hearing, and offering a final settlement. The four‑minute termination carried out by TMB bypassed all these safeguards, potentially exposing the company to legal action.

Industry watchdogs have called for stricter enforcement of labor laws in the media sector. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has already filed a complaint with the Ministry of Labour, demanding an investigation into TMB’s dismissal practices (link: https://nuojournalists.org/complaint-tmb).

Conclusion

The rapid firing of dozens of Indian employees by Trusted Media Brands’ COO Kanuj Malhotra has sparked a debate about corporate responsibility, workers’ rights, and the future of Indian journalism. While TMB frames the action as a necessary survival tactic, the manner in which the layoffs were executed has drawn criticism from employees, union representatives, and legal experts alike.

As the legal process unfolds and as the broader industry grapples with the digital shift, this episode serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of transparent, fair, and humane employment practices—even in the midst of financial uncertainty. The outcome of the ongoing litigation will likely set a precedent for how media conglomerates handle layoffs in India moving forward.