TCS layoffs: IT employee unions voice discontent over 12,000 job cuts

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) layoffs: Employee bodies representing information technology (IT) sector workers opposed layoff plans Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced on Sunday. The largest software exporter in India said it would sack around 12,000 employees in the medium and senior grades, affecting 2% of its workforce.

Calling the retrenchment illegal, IT employee unions urged affected TCS employees not to resign under pressure. Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union urged the IT bellwether to call off the retrenchment and reinstate any affected employees.

Forum for IT Employees (FITE) said TCS should not directly force employees to resign, but should pay them their notice pay, along with a severance package and insurance benefits up to one year. The IT major has already stated that the laid-off employees will receive payments for their notice periods, as well as a severance package. The company said it will also extend insurance benefits and offer outplacement opportunities for the impacted employees.


"We thank them for their service and we will be making all efforts to provide appropriate benefits, outplacement, counselling, and support as they transition to new opportunities," TCS said in a statement following the layoff announcement.

FITE pointed out that TCS is not in financial distress and layoffs during stable quarters are profit-driven. It also asked TCS employees to document everything, not to resign voluntarily and contact the State Labour Commissioner or them if forced to leave.

TCS layoffs not due to AI

TCS chief executive K Krithivasan said the layoffs are not on account of artificial intelligence (AI) replacing jobs for efficiency gains.

In an interview with Moneycontrol, Krithivasan said that the job cuts are due to a “skill mismatch” and stressed that TCS will continue searching for high-quality talent.

"TCS is on a journey to become a future-ready organisation… As part of this journey, we will also be releasing associates from the organisation whose deployment may not be feasible," the company had said.