Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services firm, began its journey of workforce reductions with modest layoffs in the fiscal year 2015. During the first nine months, TCS asked 2,574 employees to leave, which amounted to about 0.8% of its total employee strength of roughly 313,757.
At that stage, TCS described these exits as “involuntary attrition” tied to performance and restructuring rather than large-scale layoffs targeting any specific staff section.
A decade later, TCS announced a far more substantial reduction of about 12,000 employees out of 613,069. These layoffs mainly affected middle to senior management employees, particularly those with more than ten years of experience. This marked one of the largest downsizing events in TCS’s history, driven by strategic realignment amidst evolving technology and market demands.
The 2025 layoffs were part of a broader effort to prepare TCS for the future, focusing on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
The company also introduced a stricter bench policy limiting non-project days to just 35 annually and set a high benchmark of 225 billable days. Employees unable to secure assignments within this period faced termination, highlighting operational tightening during a period of slower revenue growth and rapid change in client expectations.
The layoffs triggered considerable unrest among employees and unions like the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) and Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU). These groups lodged formal complaints regarding the legality and ethics of the mass layoffs. They insisted that TCS’s actions breached labour laws and required prior government approvals. The Ministry of IT in India is reportedly keeping a close watch on the situation.
Read more: IT Sector Workforce Transformation: Nasscom Flags Skills Reset as TCS Plans 12,200 Job Cuts.
TCS’s layoff history reveals a shift from relatively small, controlled workforce adjustments to large-scale strategic restructuring aligned with technological evolution and market dynamics. The 2025 layoffs underscore the challenges that India’s IT sector faces amid global technological disruptions and competition.
Going forward, TCS’s focus on reskilling, technological investment, and workforce realignment will be key to maintaining its leadership position in a rapidly transforming industry.
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Published on: Aug 1, 2025, 1:32 PM IST
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