TCS layoff: Techies stare at dismal job scenario

Experts say layoffs could be attributed to fall in revenues over past 3 quarters, reshaping of workforce by AI

- UMA KANNAN @ Bengaluru

A day after the country's largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced about 12,260 job cuts, techies and freshers are equally concerned about the job opportunities in the industry.

This is the biggest-ever job cut by an Indian IT services company. Already big tech giants such as Microsoft and IBM have fired 15,000 and 8,000 employees, respectively, this year alone. Prior to this, TCS updated its talent deployment policy and limited bench period to 35 days for its employees. Jefferies in a note said in the near term ongoing layoffs will hurt employee morale and could lead to execution slippages. "In the longer run, such policies could drive a rise in attrition, similar to what was seen at Cognizant during 2020-22," it said. Recently, HCLTech said it is executing a restructuring programme and that this is for both people and non-people assets.