According to The Guardian, the UK employment tribunal has been told that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a division of the Indian multinational Tata, deliberately targeted older, non-Indian nationals during a recent redundancy process.
The restructuring began in mid-2023, and claimants allege that TCS specifically focused on making this group redundant while keeping younger, Indian nationals employed.
TCS has denied these accusations, stating that the process was conducted fairly and without discrimination.
The primary claimant, Steve Beer, is a former partner who joined TCS in February 2019.
He alleges that the company’s approach was “unfair and discriminatory,” deliberately singling out experienced, non-Indian staff from the Consulting Services and Integration (CS&I) division.
According to Beer, TCS implemented a “tickbox” consultancy process, the outcome of which was predetermined to remove older, non-Indian employees.
Beer claims that TCS replaced these workers with younger, Indian nationals as part of a cost-cutting strategy. He argues that non-Indian staff were considered more expensive and less adaptable compared to their Indian counterparts.
Beer also stated that the company sometimes understated costs to win contracts, which pressured them to replace seasoned, higher-paid staff to meet profit targets.
Beer further alleged that TCS used a deceptive practice when bidding for contracts, showcasing local, non-Indian staff in proposals to attract clients, only to later replace them with Indian workers once the deal was secured.
He called this a “bait-and-switch” approach, claiming that it was motivated by the perception that Indian employees were more manageable and cost-effective.
In support of his case, Beer presented an internal email from August 2023, sent by a human resources director, which indicated that employees not working on “billable” projects were at risk of redundancy.
Beer argued that this policy disproportionately affected older, non-Indian employees who had been moved off projects after contracts were won.
Similar Allegations in the US
This case mirrors a similar legal dispute in the United States, where at least 22 former TCS employees claimed they were dismissed without proper notice and replaced with workers from India on H1-B visas.
These workers were also reportedly let go as part of a cost-saving measure, emphasizing a recurring pattern of targeting non-Indian staff.
TCS Denies All Claims
TCS, which is valued at nearly £110 billion on the BSE stock exchange in Mumbai, denies any wrongdoing in both the UK and US cases.
The company argues that its redundancy processes were carried out fairly and without discrimination based on age or nationality.
The tribunal continues to hear evidence from Beer and two other claimants who have yet to testify.
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