Costly middle layer faces the axe amid IT sector layoff drill

Mid- and senior-level employees at India's top seven IT services companies are facing unprecedented pressure as slowing growth and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), including agentic AI, push firms to trim the costly middle layer.

- AVIK DAS & SHIVANI SHINDE

According to data from specialist staffing firm Xpheno, more than 7,700 senior professionals with over 15 years of experience have exited India's IT services firms — TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, Cognizant, and LTIMindtree — over the past 12 months. That's roughly 4 per cent of the total senior talent pool of 205,000.

Of these, 43 per cent joined another Tier-I or mid-tier IT firm, 48 per cent moved into senior roles at global capability centres (GCCs), and the rest shifted to non-GCC multinational companies or other tech and non-tech Indian firms. While it's unclear how many of these exits were voluntary versus layoffs, industry watchers said some departures were likely nudged out.

The pressure has intensified after TCS announced plans to cut 12,000 mid- and seniorlevel roles mainly at the C5 level and above, including employees in their late 40s and 50s. This segment typically has more than two decades of experience, often with the same company, and once expected to retire from the industry within the next decade.

The road, experts say, is not easy any more.