In the past quarter, the Indian IT sector has been haunted by a spectre of unleashed, dominant greed of the capitalist class where the employees were treated as easy dispensables, ripped off their right to live with dignity and compelled to suffer in silence. Tata Consultancy Services, the largest employer in the IT/ITeS sector in India, started its unplanned and whimsical downsizing program and justified the act as inevitable to address futuristic needs to restructure. It is not a novel occurrence in a developing, labor-intensive economy such as India, that the country’s Human Resource has been ushered into an abyss of uncertainty. Yet, the spectre that has been haunting the current times has its uniqueness for two primary reasons. First, independent India in the last 78 years had never seen such an amplified level of aggression, arrogance and indifference of employers under the charade of false promises and lame excuses. Second, heinous offences such as violating the laws of the land had never been complemented with indifference from the Government who have opted to stay out of the “internal affairs” of TCS, allowing the offenders to enjoy absolute impunity. Hence, the exploitation of the working class of the country followed by Government inaction is what makes the current situation a novel one that demands careful study. AIITEU has been treading these times and tides knee-deep, analysing this spectre while considering all associated metrics. This publication is the union’s account of how it all began within TCS and where the employees stand today, after the passage of 3 months since TCS announced its new associate deployment policy on June 12, 2025.
A Chronology of events
31 Mar 2025: The net profit of TCS for FY24-25 was reported to be Rs. 65,331 Crores in the Audited Consolidated Statement of Financial Results of TCS. The figure for FY23-24 was Rs. 62,955 Crores.
12 June 2025: TCS introduced the new associate deployment policy to ensure a minimum billability of 225 days, setting an upper cap of 35 days of bench time in one year. In the press release on 18 June 2025, AIITEU had expressed concerns about an imminent downsizing practice within TCS after the announcement of the policy.
28 July 2025: TCS CEO K Krithivasan, during a media outreach, vindicated the earlier apprehensions of AIITEU confirming that TCS will be laying off 2% of its employees as part of the workforce restructuring intended to “build a stronger TCS.”
29 July 2025: AIITEU setup a helpline for the aggrieved professionals and thereafter started receiving distress calls from employees across the nation.
The Real Picture – Grim and Gloomy
Till date, close to a thousand of anxious employees have called on the union helpline, riling in grief and anger as they narrated their ordeal. The closed-door one-to-one meetings and forcing the employees to resign which were later shown to be evidence of voluntary resignation, the threats and harassment by officials from TCS Management – every act violated the Constitutional provisions and the labour laws and yet failed to attract the Government’s attention.
The initial admission by TCS Management regarding the layoffs of 2% of its workforce is in itself a falsity as the layoff is no longer limited to 2%. A large number of employees, feeling helpless and panic-stricken, resigned under immense mental duress as they were threatened of dire consequences. The exact count of employees who resigned under coercion and duress, shall never be revealed by TCS and does not fall within the ambit of the company’s claim of “2% layoffs”. The forced resignation is a well-thought cunning attempt of subterfuge as the actual number of impacted employees are withheld and the legal provisions related to retrenchment under Industrial Act 1947 are bypassed through forced resignation.
TCS CHRO has announced that the company has completed the onboarding of 18,500 employees in July-Sept quarter. Q2 business reports reveal that TCS’s head count fell by nearly 19755 bringing the total head count to 593,314 from a workforce of 613,069 in Q1. This implies that the layoffs had started way back in Q1 and the total count of impacted employees now add up to (19755+18500) = 38255, more than three times of what was originally claimed by the TCS CEO.
From Despair to Agitation
AIITEU helpline numbers kept ringing throughout the day and even in the wee hours of morning. The list of callers included an anxious mother worried about her daughter, a friend worried for a friend, a husband seeking advice on behalf of his wife or vice versa. Everyone called with a belief that the union could solve their problems and reinstate them in the jobs they have just lost. The helplessness and fear of an uncertain future was evident.
The situation escalated to an extent where employees from across the country voluntarily took to the streets under the banner of AIITEU, raising their voices against the capitalist attack on their fundamental right to live with dignity. Employees assembled in front of TCS offices as well as public places in Noida, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi in response to AIITEU’s clarion call to unionize and resist against the prevalent practice of forced resignation and illegal retrenchment within TCS. Those who could not organise street protests, expressed their concerns and grievances on social media. #saynotoforcedresignation and #TCSLayOffs were trending hashtags on X even a couple of weeks back.
The despair of the aggrieved professionals could not overpower their zeal to seek justice. It was due to the tireless efforts of IT professionals of India, that TCS had to shift from the earlier arrogant approach to a somewhat liberal standpoint. Unfortunately, by the time the shift happened, a large number of employees were already bludgeoned with threats and coercion. Regardless of how much TCS may try to uplift its past philanthropic identity by advertising the mutual separation package (ex gratia), it is yet to become a de facto standard. It is being used as a makeshift solution in an inconsistent fashion that clearly shows that the whole process was planned in haste, without adequate listing of relevant metrics based on which such severance packages are supposed to be developed. As a result, while for majority of the employees the separation package included only 3 months notice period, very few long-serving employees were given higher amount as ex gratia settlements. However, such instances are very limited and shall not be mistaken as the general practice across all business units of TCS.
Observation and Analysis of the Union
In July-September quarter, as per their manifold exit strategy, TCS first began hackling the employees, citing reasons of bench time. The new bench policy instructed employees to find project for themselves instead of the RMG allocating projects. Only a handful of employees with relevant connections within the organisation could find projects for themselves. Even when they succeeded in finding a project, the actual project allocation was kept on hold citing reasons of pending approvals from higher management. Employees were asked to resign voluntarily. Initially they were only given the 3 months’ notice period salaries. TCS employees had divulged details of a “fluidity list” that had names already marked for termination. All policies and reasoning around resource utilisation were only meant to prepare grounds for the layoffs.
The ones who chose not to resign, were summoned to closed-door private meetings, in several cases were manhandled, threatened and eventually made to submit under the mounting inhumane pressure. Many employees had panic attacks, some even fainted being unable to tackle the psychological stress. Eventually, the employees ended up resigning under coercion. Even in such cases, most were given a payment equalling the salaries of 3 month’s notice period.
People who still chose to resist, were then threatened that they will be blacklisted in the entire IT/ITeS industry, their experience letters will bear remarks that would only harm their future job prospects, if they refused to comply with the company ‘orders’. In this way, TCS pulled off an unthinkable, inhumane, preposterous act of downsizing and AIITEU believes that none of this could have been possible had there been adequate vigilance and inspection from the Government. Even today, incidents of forced resignation and illegal retrenchment are continuing, unabated.
Earlier promises of providing continued medical insurance for the impacted employees as well as placement assistance have fallen flat on their faces. Even though employees were paid their salaries for 3 months as separation package, the end date of employment came into effect immediately which meant their health insurance policies were discontinued with immediate effect as well. One of our callers, a senior employee of TCS talked about his anxiety, grief and helplessness when TCS called him for one of those settlement meetings. At that time, his father was undergoing a treatment at a hospital. His health insurance as well as his family’s, were discontinued as soon as he signed the settlement form.
All employees who agreed to the mutual separation package, were made to sign a settlement form wherein it was mentioned that the employee shall have no right to sue TCS ever in future. Such clauses in any contract is a proof of ‘undue influence’. It is a settled principle of law that if an agreement between the parties has not happened under free consent and if there is an element of coercion or undue influence, such contracts are voidable. AIITEU holds firmly that such contracts shall be regarded as void contracts. The union hereby, draws attention of the State Labour Departments as well as the Ministry of Labour and Employment and would like to believe that the Government officials would render such contracts as void as well.
The early retirement schemes as well as the mutual settlement agreement are different forms of forced resignation. In either case, the employees are rendered jobless. Except for the early retirement cases, employees are left with no health insurance coverage to address immediate medical needs. TCS’ draconian, anti-worker layoff program has not only caused immense anxiety and stress to the employees that are detrimental to their well-being, but have also violated their fundamental right to live with dignity as laid down u/a 21 of the Constitution of India.
AIITEU’s Initiatives
AIITEU has filed multiple complaints at different Labour Commissioners’ Office including Noida, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Indore and Bhubaneswar. The developments over Q2 show that, however meager the relief maybe, the fact that TCS has started developing separation packages is a result of the IT workers’ movement across India. However, while the sun shines on a handful, the majority still live in an abyss of uncertainty. The IT/ITeS fraternity of India is not in a mood to remain a silent spectator this time. Hence, with all its conviction and capacity, AIITEU would urge the State Governments and MoLE to understand the pulse of the employees. The TCS debacle has shaken people’s beliefs in the democratic and constitutional foundations of India. It is unacceptable that the diverse and talented Human Resource pool of India receive slave-like treatment from their employers. They cannot be left at the mercy of the employers, more so, when the laws of the land are stringent enough to safeguard the interest of the workers of India. For the sake of ease of doing business, Governments have granted endless exemptions to the capitalist class who are now convinced that they can enjoy absolute impunity in whichever way they choose to act. Seldom, any consideration is given to the employees’ growing needs, concerns. One-sided statements favoring the employers also violates the principle of natural justice. Ease of doing business cannot take precedence over the principles of natural justice. To ensure that the Constitutional provisions are complied with, Governments must intervene immediately to investigate into the manner in which TCS has ruined the lives of above 38000 people. TCS must not be allowed to be a judge in its own case. The Labour Departments must conduct regulatory scrutiny and be vigilant that the labour laws are complied within the pan-India MNCs and Corporate companies otherwise such incessant violations will continue to question the efficacy of Labour Departments in the country.
A tripartite meeting must be convened without further delay to ensure a fair and adequate representation of the IT/ITeS employees, so that they can share their concerns freely. Only then a reasoned decision may be arrived at, setting a precedent preventing such malpractices to be the usual modus operandi in the IT/ITeS sectors of India.
Click here to download the statement in PDF format.