India’s largest tech company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), recently announced a 2% reduction in its workforce, equating to nearly 12,000 jobs. However, a media report citing unions and employees suggested that the number could rise to up to 30,000, raising questions about the true scale of the job cuts.
Amid rumours and widespread speculations over massive layoffs, TCS has clarified the actual number of job cuts.
Denying the rumours of up to 30,000 layoffs, TCS in a statement issued to Livemint said, “These speculations are incorrect and misleading. As communicated earlier, the impact is limited to 2% of our workforce.”
IT unions, employees, and other stakeholders have asserted that the actual TCS layoff figures are significantly higher than the official data, according to a report by Moneycontrol, citing people aware of the development who suggested that job cuts are likely to exceed 30,000.
“Approximately 10,000 impacted employees had directly approached us since June. The layoffs could easily go over 30,000.
Since employees are asked to resign themselves and are not being terminated by the company, these numbers won’t show up in TCS’ records — maybe only in their attrition figures,” a mid-level TCS employee who is a part of one of the national-level IT unions told the news portal.
TCS announced on July 25, 2025, that it plans to cut its workforce by 2%, which amounts to more than 12,000 employees in FY26. In its statement, the company said that the layoffs are part of its wider strategy to become a “future-ready organisation”, emphasising investments in technology, AI implementation, market growth, and workforce restructuring, according to multiple media reports.
“Towards this, a number of reskilling and redeployment initiatives have been underway. As part of this journey, we will also be releasing associates from the organisation whose deployment may not be feasible. This will impact about 2 per cent of our global workforce, primarily in the middle and the senior grades, over the course of the year,” TCS said.
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India’s largest IT firm Tata Consultancy Services has allegedly forced around 2,500 employees in Pune to resign from their jobs, the IT employees’ body NITES said in a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister on Wednesday.
However, TCS said, only a limited number of employees have been affected by our recent initiative to realign skills in our organisation.
Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) President Harpreet Singh Saluja, in a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, sought timely intervention to protect the interests of the affected employees.
Saluja said based on NITES representation, the Union Labour Ministry has directed the Maharashtra labour secretary to take necessary action in the matter.
“Sadly, despite this directive, the ground reality has become even more distressing. In Pune alone, nearly 2,500 employees have been forced to resign or have been abruptly removed in recent weeks,” NITES said.
When contacted, TCS said, “The misinformation shared here is inaccurate and purposefully mischievous. Only a limited number of employees have been affected by our recent initiative to realign skills in our organisation”.
“Those who have been affected have been provided due care and severance, as is due to them in each of the individual circumstances.”
The company, in June, announced to lay off about 2 per cent, or 12,261 employees, of its global workforce this year, with the majority of those impacted belonging to middle and senior grades.
NITES said the affected employees are not just numbers; they are mothers and fathers, breadwinners, caregivers, and the backbone of thousands of households across Maharashtra.
“Many of those affected are mid- to senior-level professionals who have given 10-20 years of dedicated service to the company. A large number are over 40 years of age, burdened with EMIs, school fees, medical expenses, and responsibilities towards ageing parents. For them, finding alternative employment in today’s competitive market is almost impossible,” NITES said
It said that the education of children of affected employees is at risk, and loans may go unpaid, and households face emotional trauma and financial collapse.
NITES has alleged that the terminations by TCS are being carried out in blatant violation of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, as no notice has been given to the government in this regard.
The IT employees’ body has alleged that TCS has not paid any statutory retrenchment compensation to the employees, and staff are being coerced into “voluntary resignations” under fear and pressure.
It has demanded that Maharashtra Chief Minister to stand with the affected families in their “darkest hour” and direct the state’s labour department to immediately investigate and stop the alleged illegal terminations.
The employed body has requested Fadnavis to ensure that every affected employee is given their lawful rights under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, halt all further terminations until due legal process is followed and hold the company’s top management accountable for their disregard of law and humanity.