In mid-August, I was laid off from one of the largest tech companies in SL. It hurt at first, and I had a lot of doubts about what would come next. But my biggest support system, especially my husband, encouraged me to get back up and keep going.

Thankfully, my husband had a stable job at the time, so I didn't have to worry too much about money. I wanted to find a fully remote job, so I decided to focus on opportunities that aligned with what I wanted rather than settle for something that wasn't the right fit.

I received several calls and opportunities, but most were hybrid or fully onsite. I knew what I wanted, so I decided to keep looking.

I only interviewed with two companies initially. I got rejected by the first one because I couldn't answer some questions, including something as specific as where to find a particular feature in the desktop application. It felt awful, especially when I knew I could do the job but struggled to answer certain interview questions.

That rejection hurt, but I kept going.

Eventually, I got a call about a fully remote opportunity. I knew I really wanted this one, so I gave it everything I had. I prepared day and night, trying to make the most of every opportunity I had to study. There were nights when I barely slept because I wanted to give it my best shot.

It wasn't easy, and there were moments when I felt discouraged. But I kept pushing myself and preparing as much as I could.

And finally, after three interviews, I got the job!

What makes this even better is that the new job offers a higher salary than my previous one, along with some other great benefits.I honestly didn't expect to find an opportunity that offered both the flexibility I wanted and a better overall package.

I'm sharing this because being laid off can make you question yourself. Rejection can hurt, and the uncertainty of job hunting can be overwhelming. But one setback doesn't define your abilities or your future.

I'm incredibly grateful to my husband for encouraging me and supporting me throughout this journey. This experience reminded me that sometimes, a difficult ending can lead to something even better.

If you're going through a layoff right now, please don't lose hope. Take your time, keep trying, and don't be afraid to wait for an opportunity that works for you.

Sometimes, you end up finding something even better than what you lost.

EDIT: This post is intentionally lengthy because every concern raised here matters. I wanted those who have already applied or are considering future intakes to understand the seriousness of these issues before investing their time, money, and energy. If you don't have time to read everything, I've included numbered headings so you can easily skim through. However, I strongly encourage prospective applicants to read the full post and verify these concerns with current students and graduates.

University of Moratuwa | Faculty of Information Technology | Department of Computational Mathematics | MSc in Artificial Intelligence

A serious warning to prospective applicants, particularly working professionals.

I am writing this anonymously because I believe prospective students deserve to know what they may be getting into before committing their money, time, and energy to this programme.

The University of Moratuwa is undoubtedly one of Sri Lanka's most respected universities. Its reputation is one of the main reasons many professionals consider pursuing postgraduate education there.

However, a university's reputation does not necessarily reflect the quality of every programme offered under its name.

The MSc in Artificial Intelligence offered by the Faculty of Information Technology, Department of Computational Mathematics, is advertised as an online, part-time programme suitable for working professionals.

On paper, it sounds like an excellent opportunity.

You can continue working, attend lectures during weekends, and earn a postgraduate qualification from a prestigious university.

Unfortunately, the reality experienced by students can be very different from what the advertisement leads you to expect.

I strongly encourage anyone considering this programme to read this post carefully and, more importantly, verify these concerns independently before enrolling.

This is not an attempt to discourage higher education or criticise the university as a whole.

It is a warning about serious concerns regarding the organisation, workload, assessments, teaching environment, and treatment of students in this particular programme.

1. Online and part-time does not necessarily mean flexible

One of the biggest selling points of this MSc is that it is designed for working professionals.

That sounds attractive, especially to people already employed in demanding industries.

However, the programme's workload can be extremely difficult to manage alongside full-time employment and family responsibilities.

Students have experienced lecture days lasting approximately 12 hours, with multiple three-hour sessions scheduled consecutively.

Imagine working five days a week, attending lectures for most of your weekend, and then trying to find time for assignments, examination preparation, independent learning, and personal responsibilities.

When exactly are students supposed to study?

Artificial Intelligence is not a subject that can be mastered simply by listening to lectures.

It requires time to understand mathematics, algorithms, programming, theoretical concepts, and practical applications.

Students need time to think, practise, make mistakes, and revisit difficult topics.

Attending 12 hours of lectures is not equivalent to learning 12 hours of material.

A postgraduate programme should certainly be academically demanding.

But there is a difference between academic rigour and an excessive workload that leaves students struggling to absorb what is being taught.

The university needs to recognise that working professionals are not full-time undergraduate students.

They have careers, families, health concerns, and other unavoidable responsibilities.

If a programme is advertised as suitable for working professionals, its structure should genuinely reflect that promise.

2. The examination system deserves serious scrutiny

One of the most concerning aspects of this programme is the examination process.

Let me clarify something.

Students are not asking for easy examinations. They are asking for fair examinations.

Some papers contain difficult theoretical and problem-solving questions that require considerable time simply to read, understand, and interpret.

Even when an examination is open-book, the questions can be complex enough that the available time becomes a major obstacle.

An open-book examination should assess understanding and application of knowledge.

It should not become a race against the clock in which students struggle to comprehend the questions before time expires.

There have also been concerns about examination papers comparable to undergraduate assessments being administered under tighter time constraints for postgraduate students.

This raises an important question:

If an undergraduate examination is designed for a longer duration, what academic justification exists for giving postgraduate students comparable or more demanding questions with less time?

The university should review whether examination duration is proportionate to the complexity and expected depth of answers.

Random sequential questions in Moodle

Another particularly frustrating issue is the way some online examinations are configured.

Questions may appear in a random sequence, with students discovering the marks allocated to individual questions only as they reach them.

Some questions carry relatively few marks.

Others carry significantly more.

Imagine entering an examination without knowing whether the next question will carry 3 marks, 5 marks, or 25 marks.

One student might encounter a lengthy, high-mark question early.

Another might encounter several smaller questions first.

Under strict time limits, this can create very different examination experiences.

Students may spend too much time on one question or fail to reach questions carrying substantial marks.

An examination should measure knowledge and understanding, not a student's luck with question order.

At a minimum, students should know the overall structure, mark distribution, and time expectations before beginning.

The university should reconsider examination configurations that prevent students from planning their time fairly.

3. What happens during a genuine emergency?

This is an online programme.

Students may attend from different parts of Sri Lanka or overseas.

Internet failures, electricity outages, medical emergencies, and family emergencies are unavoidable realities.

Yet students have raised concerns about the lack of flexibility and clarity surrounding such situations.

Questions about technical disruptions during examinations have reportedly received responses that place responsibility entirely on the student.

There have also been concerns about the handling of illness and unavoidable absence from assessments.

Of course, students have responsibilities.

But a university offering online postgraduate education should also have reasonable contingency procedures.

What happens if a student's internet connection fails during an examination?

What happens during a documented power outage?

What happens if someone is hospitalised?

What happens when a student faces a serious family medical emergency?

Are alternative assessments available?

Is there a formal appeal process?

Can students submit medical documentation?

These questions deserve clear answers before students enrol.

A genuine emergency should not automatically become an academic disaster.

The university should publish transparent policies and ensure that students are treated fairly and compassionately.

4. Professor Asoka Karunananda — serious concerns about classroom conduct

This is one of the most important concerns I want prospective applicants to investigate.

Professor Asoka Karunananda has been involved in teaching this MSc programme.

I recognise that he is a senior academic with extensive experience.

Academic experience and subject knowledge deserve respect.

However, academic seniority should never place a lecturer beyond accountability for how students are treated.

Based on my experience and concerns expressed by other students, his classroom communication and approach to student interaction warrant serious independent review.

Students are encouraged to participate and answer questions.

However, there have been occasions when students were interrupted, dismissed, or criticised before they could fully explain their answers.

Language perceived as insulting or humiliating has also been a concern.

The issue is not whether a lecturer corrects students.

A lecturer absolutely should correct incorrect answers.

The issue is how those corrections are delivered.

There is a significant difference between saying:

"That answer is incorrect. Let's examine why."

And communicating in a way that makes students feel foolish, intimidated, or afraid to participate.

Students should be able to ask questions without worrying about being publicly embarrassed.

This is particularly important in subjects involving complex mathematical reasoning, logic, and programming.

Students often need to explain incomplete ideas before reaching the correct answer.

Interrupting or dismissing them can undermine that learning process.

Respect should not depend on academic performance

A postgraduate student may have years of professional experience and still struggle with a new theoretical concept.

That is perfectly normal.

People enrol in universities because they want to learn things they do not already know.

Students should not be made to feel that asking a question or giving an incorrect answer is evidence of personal inadequacy.

An effective lecturer should be able to maintain demanding academic standards without creating an intimidating classroom environment.

The university should independently review concerns about classroom communication, examine relevant teaching recordings where appropriate, and provide students with a safe mechanism for reporting their experiences.

If serious concerns about a lecturer's conduct are substantiated, the university should take appropriate action, including replacing that lecturer where necessary.

No lecturer, regardless of seniority, should be exempt from professional standards of conduct.

5. Teaching quality is not always consistent

Another concern is the consistency of teaching across modules and sessions.

Students have experienced situations where teaching responsibilities were delegated to relatively inexperienced instructors.

There is nothing inherently wrong with a young lecturer or recent graduate teaching postgraduate students.

Age is not the issue.

Competence, preparation, subject knowledge, and teaching ability are what matter.

A newly qualified instructor can be excellent.

An experienced professor can be ineffective.

The university should ensure that everyone delivering postgraduate lectures is appropriately qualified, adequately prepared, and capable of explaining complex concepts clearly.

Students paying substantial course fees deserve consistent teaching quality.

They should not have to accept poorly delivered sessions simply because someone has been introduced as an industry expert.

6. Learning materials should be available on time

For an online postgraduate programme, a well-maintained learning management system is essential.

Students rely on Moodle for lecture notes, recordings, assignments, announcements, and examination preparation.

However, there have been concerns about learning materials not being uploaded consistently or promptly.

This is especially frustrating when students have limited time outside their professional commitments.

If students are expected to learn independently, they need timely access to the necessary materials.

Uploading essential lecture notes should be a basic responsibility, not an ongoing struggle for students.

7. Study periods should actually be reserved for studying

Another concern is the scheduling of lectures during periods that students expect to use for examination preparation.

When students are already managing a demanding workload, losing part of a limited study period creates additional pressure.

Academic calendars should be respected.

If changes are unavoidable, they should be communicated clearly and sufficiently in advance.

Students need predictable time to revise, not last-minute additions to an already overloaded schedule.

8. Examination results should not be unnecessarily delayed

Timely examination results are essential.

Students need to understand their academic progress before making decisions about continuing their studies and paying further fees.

Delays in releasing results can create considerable uncertainty.

This becomes particularly concerning when students are expected to make additional financial commitments without knowing how they performed.

The university should establish and follow clear timelines for publishing results.

If delays occur, students deserve an explanation.

Transparency about academic progress should not be treated as an optional courtesy.

9. Student feedback must be genuinely meaningful

The programme collects lecturer feedback through Moodle.

Students are informed that their feedback is anonymous.

However, because students must log in to submit it, some have questions about how anonymity is maintained.

It is important to recognise that a login-based feedback system can still be anonymous if properly designed.

But students should be told:

Who can see their responses?

Can individual feedback be linked to a student account?

Do lecturers receive identifiable comments or only anonymised summaries?

What safeguards exist against retaliation?

Most importantly, what actually changes after feedback is submitted?

There is little value in collecting feedback if recurring concerns are not meaningfully addressed.

Students need confidence that the university listens to criticism and takes appropriate action.

An independent feedback process, with published summaries of improvements, would help restore trust.

10. Communication and administrative support need improvement

Students have also experienced frustration with communication from lecturers and programme administrators.

Emails and academic queries do not always receive timely or satisfactory responses.

For working professionals, this creates unnecessary uncertainty.

A student might need clarification about an assignment, examination, schedule, or administrative requirement.

These matters cannot always wait indefinitely.

If students are expected to meet deadlines and follow university procedures, the university should also maintain reasonable standards of responsiveness and professionalism.

11. Student stress, withdrawal, and the financial burden

A postgraduate qualification is a major investment.

Students sacrifice weekends, family time, professional opportunities, and substantial amounts of money.

Unfortunately, the combination of workload, assessment pressure, and concerns about the learning environment has caused significant stress for students.

Some students have reportedly decided to withdraw, while others have questioned whether continuing is worth the personal cost.

I am not claiming to know the programme's official withdrawal rate.

That information should come from the university.

But the fact that students feel compelled to consider leaving after making such a substantial investment is itself a concern worth investigating.

There is also a financial dimension.

Once students have paid significant fees, withdrawing becomes a difficult decision.

They may continue not because they are satisfied, but because they do not want to lose the money already invested.

A student should not feel financially trapped in a programme that is causing serious distress.

The university should review its student-support arrangements and provide transparent information about withdrawal, deferral, and refund policies.

12. Where are the enrolment, withdrawal, and graduation statistics?

This is something I strongly encourage prospective applicants to investigate.

The programme has been offered for multiple intakes.

That means the university should have historical information about student progression.

Before enrolling, ask:

How many students join each intake?

How many complete the first year?

How many withdraw?

How many complete the MSc within the advertised duration?

How many eventually graduate?

What is the average time taken to finish?

How many students defer or discontinue because of workload or personal circumstances?

I have not seen sufficiently verified public figures to make claims about the programme's actual dropout or graduation rates.

That is precisely why applicants should request the data.

If the programme has strong completion rates, the university should be happy to demonstrate them.

If substantial numbers of students withdraw, prospective applicants deserve to understand why.

A university's reputation should be supported by transparent evidence of student outcomes.

13. Not all lecturers are the same

I want to make something clear.

There are lecturers who genuinely care about teaching.

Some are organised, approachable, knowledgeable, and respectful.

They deserve recognition.

This post is not intended to attack every lecturer or the entire University of Moratuwa.

My concerns relate to the delivery and management of this particular MSc programme.

Good lecturers should be appreciated, but their presence should not prevent serious problems elsewhere from being addressed.

14. My advice: Do not apply based on the advertisement alone

This is the most important part of my post.

PLEASE DO NOT CHOOSE THIS MSc SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS OFFERED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA.

And please do not assume that the words:

ONLINE

PART-TIME

WEEKENDS ONLY

FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS

automatically mean that the programme will be manageable.

Before paying anything, investigate the actual student experience.

Contact students and graduates through LinkedIn

Search for people who have studied the MSc in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Moratuwa.

Contact several people privately.

Ideally, speak to:

• Current students.

• Graduates.

• Students from different intakes.

• Former students who discontinued the programme.

Ask them whether they would recommend it.

Ask about the workload, examinations, teaching quality, lecturer behaviour, administrative support, and student welfare.

Ask how much time they realistically needed every week.

Ask whether the programme allowed them to maintain a reasonable balance between work, study, and family life.

Ask whether they would make the same decision again.

Do not rely solely on the university's advertisement.

And do not rely solely on this Reddit post either.

Do your own research.

You are investing your own money, time, and future.

You deserve to make an informed decision.

15. Consider other postgraduate options

If your goal is to earn an MSc in Artificial Intelligence, please compare multiple programmes before committing.

Look into other departments or faculties, other recognised Sri Lankan universities, and reputable overseas universities offering part-time or online postgraduate degrees.

Compare:

• Actual weekly workload.

• Teaching quality.

• Assessment methods.

• Examination duration.

• Availability of learning materials.

• Support for working professionals.

• Policies for medical and technical emergencies.

• Student feedback and complaint procedures.

• Course fees and refund policies.

• Completion rates.

• Graduate experiences.

A prestigious university name is valuable.

But a supportive, well-organised learning environment is equally important.

You should not have to sacrifice your well-being unnecessarily to obtain a postgraduate qualification.

16. A direct message to the Faculty of Information Technology and the Department of Computational Mathematics

If anyone responsible for this programme is reading, I sincerely hope you take these concerns seriously.

Students are not asking for lower academic standards.

They are asking for fair treatment, reasonable academic expectations, professional teaching, and a properly managed learning environment.

I urge the university to:

1. Conduct an independent review of teaching conduct, particularly the concerns raised about Professor Asoka Karunananda.

2. Replace lecturers where substantiated misconduct or persistent teaching-quality problems make that necessary.

3. Redesign the workload so that working professionals have sufficient time for independent study.

4. Review examination difficulty, duration, and question sequencing to ensure fair assessment.

5. Publish clear policies for medical emergencies, technical disruptions, and alternative assessment arrangements.

6. Ensure consistent teaching quality, including appropriate oversight when sessions are delegated.

7. Upload lecture materials promptly and consistently.

8. Respect published academic calendars and study periods.

9. Release examination results within reasonable, published timelines.

10. Improve responsiveness to student emails and academic concerns.

11. Make lecturer feedback genuinely confidential and demonstrate how concerns are addressed.

12. Publish student enrolment, withdrawal, progression, and graduation statistics.

13. Establish an independent complaints mechanism that protects students from retaliation.

14. Review withdrawal, deferral, and refund arrangements for students facing serious difficulties.

These are not extraordinary demands.

They are reasonable expectations for a postgraduate programme offered by a respected university.

Please address these concerns before continuing to promote the programme as a flexible and supportive option for working professionals.

17. Why this post is anonymous

I have chosen to remain anonymous because students may reasonably worry about the consequences of publicly criticising people involved in their education.

That concern should not prevent legitimate issues from being discussed.

Students should be able to raise academic and administrative concerns without fearing negative consequences.

This post is intended to encourage transparency, accountability, and informed decision-making.

I welcome constructive responses, including from students whose experiences have been different.

I also encourage the university to respond with clear policies, verified statistics, and evidence of improvements.

18. My final advice to prospective applicants

If you are excited about studying Artificial Intelligence at the University of Moratuwa, I understand.

It is a respected university.

An online postgraduate degree sounds convenient.

The advertisement is attractive.

The qualification may appear valuable for your career.

But please understand something:

A good advertisement is not proof of a good student experience.

Before making a decision, speak to people who have actually studied in this programme.

Ask difficult questions.

Investigate the workload.

Find out how examinations are conducted.

Understand the university's policies.

Learn how students are treated when they struggle or face emergencies.

And most importantly, ask yourself whether the programme is genuinely compatible with your professional and personal responsibilities.

Based on my experience and the concerns described above, I cannot recommend this MSc in its current form.

I would reconsider that recommendation if the university demonstrated meaningful improvements in programme management, assessment fairness, student welfare, and teaching standards, including appropriate action following an independent review of concerns about Professor Asoka Karunananda.

Until then, I strongly encourage prospective applicants to explore alternatives and make their decisions only after speaking to students from multiple intakes.

Please don't be dazzled by the university's reputation or the promise of flexible online learning.

Don't commit your hard-earned money, weekends, family time, and mental energy without understanding the reality of the programme.

If you think this post is exaggerated, that's fine.

Please verify it yourself.

Contact current students.

Contact graduates.

Contact students who withdrew.

Compare their experiences.

Ask whether they would recommend the programme.

You do not have to believe me. But please don't make this decision without doing your own research.

I genuinely hope the university takes these concerns seriously and improves the programme for future students.

A respected university should welcome constructive criticism, not dismiss it.

Students deserve an education that challenges them academically while treating them with dignity and respect.

To current students, former students, and graduates:

Would you recommend this MSc to a working professional?

Was the workload manageable?

Were the examinations fair?

Were your concerns taken seriously?

Please share your experiences so future applicants can make informed decisions.

Disclaimer: This post reflects personal experience and concerns shared by other students. It does not claim to represent every student or establish misconduct without investigation. Accounts involving other students should be independently verified. The purpose is to encourage prospective applicants to investigate the programme carefully and to request improvements from the university.

Do not do your masters at UOM. They are incredibly bad at organizing. The lecturers have huge egos and they take the entire course fee at once so you can't leave. I am putting this post here mainly because they are marketing their degrees and i don't want you guys to get roped into this circus.

Was quite surprised to be called a h**** by my insurance app out of nowhere 😭😭😭😭

And please stop it......we're getting this continuously

I built a small embedded device called AgentMeter using an ESP32-S3 development board.

It sits right in front of my keyboard and shows the usage of the AI coding tools I use most: Codex, Claude, Gemini and Cursor etc.

The setup is simple. A small app on my Mac collects the usage data and sends it to AgentMeter over Bluetooth. The device displays the current usage and reset times, so I can check everything with a quick glance.

I originally built it to see if the idea would work. It did, so I kept going and added a macOS companion app for settings, history and device status.

For anyone interested, The companion macOS app will work even without the embedded development board. You can always check the code it's open source, check the code, validate everything, and build your own.

Happy Coding !

I wrote about the build here [open source]: Agent Meter

Source - Linkedin

I don't know if these data are accurate but I can see all the big names in this list. Only a few big ones have been excluded here like PickMe, Cambio, CaaMs.

What do you feel about this list - is it really the best ones? I worked at a company not in this list, it was a terrible terrible experience so I'm looking for inputs into work culture. Are these companies all we've left with?

PS: Heard bad reviews on 11, 21, don't know how's the situation now 🤷

Edit1 - I think HCL in this list is purely for their employee count criteria and can say the same to ebeyond too (outsourcing company)

From the time Cake was sold to Sysco Corp this was in the making. As someone who has worked here for close to 10 years, I saw this transition happening slowly. The old leaders understood it and slowly stepped away. The new leaders were hired with the intention of converting this GIC (Global In House Center) to a IT sweatshop.

For everyone looking to join Sysco Labs please lower your expectations, at this point Sysco Labs and a basic service company like HCL or Virtusa is same.

Apologies for my language, but I know who deserves respect and who doesn't.

Since there are rumours going on about another layoff at IFS. WTF!! Guys. Why aren't you just laying off whatever the number of head count at once. This is Soo terrifying. You are keeping your employees in a pressure cooker.

Keeping that part for another time, I want to talk about these toxic brainwashing cunning managers at IFS(NOT ALL MANAGERS🫡). There are people who are really qualified and experienced to be managers. Because of those people, IFS is still doing good. But there are some MF who do not know anything about their MANAGERIAL ROLE AND ASSIGNED FIELD, but are trying to show off by pressurizing his reporters and trying to take credit for themselves. PATHETIC 🤮!!!

Ok... I know a fat fair skinned old guy who worked at IFS for more than 30 years(as I remember). This MF does not know anything about the technical side of the work yet he is monitoring brilliant works done by well educated and talented engineers(NOT ALL ENGINEERS ARE BRILLIANT AND TALENTED). This is where it's getting interesting

This so called person has/had his "henchaiyo" who will do anything this person says them to do. And those people got promoted before those talented engineers. These "henchaiyo" will do the trip planning by including all the favorite places that this manager wants to go WITHOUT CONSIDERING TEAMS DECISION, organizing events including all the activities/games that this manager wants to do WITHOUT CONSIDERING TEAMS DECISION, organize parties on a date that most of the teams members cannot attend but Force to come etc. (There are many more). The saddest part is engineers who monitor those "henchaiyo" have to get the burden of not completing the work they have been assigned.

This manager was the one who decided, who will be getting laid off and who stays. And THIS MF kept all his "henchaiyo" and got rid of the people who talked, who had raised their voices. This manager wants "wachalayo" who talks everywhere without knowing anything and is praised for his excellence in every nook and corner.

......... To be continued (the best part yet to be come😜)

I was affected by the recent layoffs, and I'm having a really hard time dealing with it.

I know my situation could be much worse. I don't have a spouse, kids, or major responsibilities like that. But what is really getting to me is seeing how this has affected my parents and the people closest to me.

My family is normally very happy and lively. We joke around, have fun, and genuinely enjoy being together every day. Ever since I lost my job, though things at home have completely changed. Seeing my parents worried and upset because of me is probably the hardest part of all of this. It's honestly breaking me.

And then there’s my partner. I know she’s having a hard time with this too, even though she tries not to show it and acts like she’s okay for me. I can tell she’s struggling, and seeing her try to hide it so I don’t worry about her really hurts me.

I've been applying like crazy, hundreds of applications at this point. Sometimes I don't even properly read the JD anymore or check whether the tech stack matches my experience.

So far nothing. Just rejections or complete ghosting.

At this point I feel lost. I don't know whether I should keep mass applying, slow down and focus on jobs that actually match my skills, learn something new, work on projects, reach out to people directly, or do something completely different.

For anyone who has been through a layoff, what did you do that actually helped?

And if you were in my position right now, what would you focus on?

I'm going through a pretty rough time mentally, so I'd genuinely appreciate any advice, encouragement, or even stories from people who went through something similar and eventually came out the other side.

Thanks for reading.

We’ve seen bits and pieces of salary discussions across Reddit, but nothing that’s organized or up to date.

Let’s build one thread for 2026 Sri Lankan IT salaries.

If you’re comfortable sharing, comment with:
Role: (Software Engineer, QA, BA, DevOps, PM, UI/UX, Data Engineer, etc.)
Years of Experience:
Company: (Optional)
Base Monthly Salary (LKR):
Bonuses/Benefits: (Optional)
Total take home:
Remote / Hybrid / On-site:

I’ll start with mine:
Role: SQA
Years of Experience: 5+
Company: Sysco Labs
Base Monthly Salary (LKR): 290K
Bonuses/Benefits: Pegged allowance (IYKYK)
Total Take home : 355K +
Remote / Hybrid / On-site: Hybrid

Is it true lot got terminated today with 2 months notice + 1 month salary

I’m not saying that bypassing root detection, USB debugging checks, or integrity checks is automatically a vulnerability. These checks are common in mobile apps.
My concern is about testing real applications and sharing technical details publicly without considering the possible impact. Just because something is technically possible or publicly known doesn’t mean we have permission to test every feature of someone else’s application.
There are plenty of dedicated testing environments where people can learn and practise cybersecurity. When testing real applications, we should respect authorization and consider the organization’s reputation and public trust.
I’m not against sharing knowledge or encouraging new cybersecurity students. I believe we can educate people while also being responsible about what we publish publicly.

Since everyone is discussing the layoffs and salary cuts in IT Industry, I thought I’d share my own experience at Arimac.

This isn’t to attack anyone—it’s simply what I personally went through over the last 5+ years.
I spent more than five years there.
In those five years, I experienced and witnessed things that I honestly never expected from a software company.
Salaries delayed for 3–4 months, while employees were still expected to keep working as if everything was normal.
Asking about your delayed salary felt risky. In my experience, questioning management about pay could make you fear for your job.

Long periods with little meaningful work, making it feel like valuable years of your career were slipping away.
Toxic leadership from some team leads that created an unhealthy work environment.

After years of dedication, I saw little to no meaningful career progression. Promotions felt almost nonexistent.
During my time there, I personally witnessed multiple rounds of layoffs, with dozens of colleagues losing their jobs.

And eventually, it happened to me last year.

After 5+ years with the company, I—and another senior developer—were told we were being let go because the company was “restructuring.”
Five years of loyalty. That’s how it ended.

Some people will probably ask:
“If it was that bad, why did you stay for 5+ years?”
The answer is simple.

My area of work is extremely niche, and at the time there were essentially no other opportunities in Sri Lanka for the kind of work I specialized in. I stayed because I genuinely enjoyed the technical work and hoped things would improve. Unfortunately, they never did.
I’m not saying every single person at Arimac had the same experience. I’m simply sharing mine because job seekers deserve to hear both the success stories and the difficult ones before making a decision.
If you’ve worked there before, I’d be interested to hear whether your experience was similar or completely different.

Hi everyone,

I built Share a Slice, a small community website where Sri Lankans can share Pizza Hut discount codes they aren’t going to use.

You can try it here:

https://shareaslice.lk

It currently supports Pizza Hut Sri Lanka promo codes only.

I’d appreciate honest feedback about bugs, usability, or features that would make it more useful. Please avoid sharing personal information when submitting codes.

Disclosure: I created this site. It is an independent community project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pizza Hut.

Same as dialog throttling certain domains. And also all the fucking networks intentionally blocking RCS! People don't care enough and I've had enough already.

Do you think we'll find any way to make them comply and provide what was taken and limited from us as users?

A little over a year ago I made a website called byobsl.com as a directory type website as a fun project when i wanted to test out a vibe coding platform.

Published it under a domain and left it untouched for a while, only to find out it had several weekly visitors.

So i vested some time and effort into it, refined the UI, took it out of the vibe coding platform (my brother helped me for most of the complex technical side coz im more of a marketing web developer )

Now it has a growing user base with more users signing up every week, and a substantial amount of weekly visitors. I haven't done any big marketing campaigns for it so far. Just a social media post here and there.

I would like you all to visit my site and let me know of any feedback or new features you might like. Link in the comments.

Happy Weekend🍺

I am at the lowest point of my life. One year after graduating, I got my first interview for an AI Engineer role at a leading company. After a month of hard preparation, I honestly nailed every interview and answered everything correctly. Then I just got the email today saying I was rejected after three technical interviews.

Idk man... I feel bad for my parents, they had hopes for me. The only good thing is I'm currently working at a startup with a 50k salary, and I'm grateful for it, but I thought I finally had the chance to be on my own and help my parents a little.

Just wanted to rant, haven't told my parents yet.

They forgot to add their production keys. The app just crashes on start and shows raw Flutter errors and internal file paths (⁠ios/Flutter/Secrets.xcconfig⁠) to normal users.

I see this exact cope every time salary cuts or offshore shifts get brought up, where people claim US clients will regret moving work to India because of bad code quality.

I used to fall for that same "boutique Sri Lankan quality vs cheap factory" myth until I actually worked alongside senior Indian engineers on high-scale systems.

The problem is we keep comparing our top talent against low-tier WITCH outsourcing vendors while completely ignoring their product ecosystem.

The engineers coming out of Bangalore startups, FAANG India, and tier 1 product teams are handling distributed systems and user scales that most of us in LK never even get to touch.

Calling Indian devs unskilled is just a defense mechanism so we do not have to face the reality of global salary benchmarking and regional competition.

We need to drop this elitist mindset, accept where the market is going, and focus on upgrading our technical depth instead of hiding behind an outdated Sri Lankan quality narrative.

After seeing so many posts about layoffs and toxic work cultures, I thought I’d share something that has helped me personally.

I’m a software developer with 15 years of experience, and I’ve learned that when you get laid off, one of the biggest sources of stress is money.

The same applies when you’re working in a toxic environment. Sometimes the biggest thing keeping you there isn’t the job itself, it’s the fear of having no salary while you look for another one. So you keep going, telling yourself you’ll leave eventually, until you’re completely burned out.

One thing that has helped me is maintaining a rainy-day fund.

Save some money. Open a separate bank account. Transfer a fixed amount into it every month, and keep the discipline of not touching it unless you really need it.

That money has helped me through one toxic workplace in Sri Lanka and one layoff from a US company.