A major controversy has erupted in the Indian IT sector after the Union of IT & ITES Employees (UNITE) claimed that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country’s largest IT services exporter, is planning to lay off as many as 30,000 to 40,000 employees, mostly at mid- and senior-level positions.
The union staged a protest in Chennai on Tuesday, alleging that the company is replacing experienced staff with freshers at a fraction of the cost.
During the demonstration, protesters carried banners, flags, and placards with strong slogans against the company’s management. Some placards branded the leadership as the “Chief of Cruelty” and the “Chief of Corporate Greed.”
One of the messages read: “Secret to stop layoffs: Unionise.” UNITE accused TCS of using cost-cutting as an excuse to discard long-serving employees while boasting of healthy revenues and profits.
Janani, a representative of UNITE, told The New Indian Express that the real scale of the layoffs could be far higher than what has been publicly acknowledged.
“TCS is in the process of laying off staff at senior and managerial levels. At the end of this, nearly 30,000 to 40,000 staff may lose their jobs,” she claimed.
The union has further alleged that the company is hiring fresh graduates at 80–85% lower pay to replace senior professionals.
In its statement, UNITE argued that a company with ₹2.55 lakh crore in annual revenue, a 24.3% operating margin, and dividends worth ₹45,588 crore has no financial justification to terminate thousands of jobs.
“TCS is retrenching workers not out of necessity, but for profit. Targeting senior employees & pushing illegal layoffs is an attack on job security across IT,” the union said in a social media post.
UNITE has demanded that the government intervene and that the company invest in upskilling employees instead of discarding them. “Workers are not numbers on a balance sheet — we demand justice,” the union declared.
The protests in Chennai are expected to be followed by similar demonstrations in other tech hubs, with the union calling for global solidarity among IT workers.
TCS Responds: “Speculations Incorrect and Misleading”
TCS, however, has strongly dismissed reports of 30,000 job cuts, terming them “incorrect and misleading.” In a statement, the company clarified that the actual layoffs are limited to 2% of its global workforce, which translates to about 12,000 jobs.
“These speculations are incorrect and misleading. As communicated earlier, the impact is limited to 2% of our workforce,” the company said. It added that the restructuring exercise is part of routine workforce optimization, aimed at aligning talent with business requirements.
The company has not provided detailed information about severance packages but has emphasized that the transition process is being handled in compliance with all applicable regulations.
The Larger Debate
The standoff between TCS and UNITE highlights a larger debate in India’s IT industry: balancing profitability with employee security. While the company insists that the layoffs are limited and necessary for business realignment, unions fear that such moves set a dangerous precedent of replacing experienced workers with cheaper freshers.
For now, the numbers remain disputed — with the union warning of 30,000–40,000 job losses and TCS maintaining the figure at 12,000. What is clear, however, is that the issue has stirred strong emotions within the IT workforce and could prompt wider discussions on employee rights and corporate responsibility in India’s technology sector.
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