State government intervention not needed in TCS layoffs: Priyank Kharge

The massive layoffs announced by IT major TCS were a business decision, and do not need intervention from the Karnataka government, state IT minister Priyank Kharge told Mint on Friday.

"TCS overestimated their business and had a heavy bench strength, thus leading to a course correction. A very little part of it had to do with artificial intelligence (AI). Now, be it AI or any other disruptive technology, the industry needs to ensure that human resources remain on top of necessary skills. As the state government, we need to work with industries to ensure that the available talent becomes more employable,” Kharge is quoted as saying by the media report.

The government will only step in if it is demonstrated that AI upskilling incentives are in order to secure tech jobs, he said.


Also Read: TCS layoffs: IT Ministry keeping close watch on situation

This comes after Karnataka labour minister Santosh Lad asked the IT services company to explain the reason behind cutting nearly 12,000 jobs.

The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) had also taken a strong objection over the mass retrenchment and filed a complaint against TCS with the additional labour commissioner G Manjunath.

The union sought legal action against the management for violations of the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, as well as the conditions imposed by the Government of Karnataka concerning the reporting of service particulars.

Kharge's remarks are in line with CEO K Krithivasan's comments about job cuts, when he said the layoffs were a result of a “skill mismatch” and not AI.

IT industry body Nasscom has anticipated more job cuts, saying it expects “workforce rationalisation” in the near term.