Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest software services exporter, announced plans to reduce 12,261 roles in FY 2025-26, primarily affecting middle and senior management employees. The company’s total headcount stood at 613,069 as of June 30, 2025, after adding 5,000 employees during the April–June quarter.
K Krithivasan, TCS chief executive officer and managing director, stated in an interview, “No, this is not because of AI giving some 20 percent productivity gains. We are not doing that. This is driven by where there is a skill mismatch, or, where we think that we have not been able to deploy someone.” He emphasized that the layoffs result from skill mismatches and challenges in employee deployment, not reduced personnel requirements.
Krithivasan further explained, “We have trained about 550,000 people at the initial skills, 100,000 at the advanced skills. Essentially, after training whether we have the deployment feasibility issue. So, some of them could be trained, but maybe we are not able to train beyond level 1 and level 2 skills, because when the person is at a very senior person they may not be able to use the entry level skills.” The layoffs align with TCS’s strategy to become a “future-ready organisation,” with a focus on AI deployment and market expansion.
The company continues to invest in training to address skill gaps, but deployment challenges persist for some senior employees. TCS’s workforce strategy reflects efforts to adapt to technological advancements and market demands.
The layoffs will primarily affect middle and senior management employees, along with some entry-level associates who have remained unassigned to projects for an extended period. Additional details regarding the execution of the layoffs and their operational impact were not provided. TCS continues to be a major player in India’s IT industry. [Rh/Eth/VS]
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