Delay in onboarding lateral hires due to market conditions, will honour offers, TCS tells Chief Labour Commissioner

Indian Express

5 days ago

Skipping an in-person meeting with the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) on the delay in onboarding lateral hires and its recent layoffs, IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) instead communicated via an email Friday that it will honour all the offer letters it has issued, and that such deferments are a common industry practice, depending on project timelines.
On August 1, the Chief Labour Commissioner held a meeting to discuss the recent layoff of more than 12,000 TCS workers, and a delay by the company in onboarding over 600 lateral hires. The meeting was sought by the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), which represents workers in the IT services sector. While a representative from the union was present, TCS skipped the meeting, NITES said in a press statement.
NITES said TCS in its email to the CLC outlined that deferment was temporary, owing to prevailing market conditions, that it was attempting to keep the delay as minimum as possible, and the positions the company had offered had not been withdrawn. It also added that NITES had no locus standi to intervene in the matter.
While the company reiterated its intention to eventually honour the offers, it failed to provide any clear onboarding schedule, offer compensation for the delay, or propose any support mechanism for the affected employees, many of whom remain unemployed, financially strained, and emotionally distressed, NITES said in its statement.
TCS did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
Last month, TCS, India's largest IT services firm, undertook the first major layoff in the Indian IT sector, slashing 2 per cent of its global workforce — roughly 12,200 jobs. Framed as a push toward building a 'future-ready generation' through 'skilling and redeployment,' the move is, in effect, a sweeping cost-cutting exercise. The axe will fall hardest on mid- and senior-level employees, signalling a tough new chapter in the industry.
TCS' decision is expected to create uncertainty in the Indian IT industry, with industry experts anticipating that other major firms may follow suit. The move signals a potential shift in workforce strategies, especially as companies increasingly turn to automation and cost optimisation. As one of the sector's largest employers, TCS' actions could set a precedent, prompting similar measures across the industry and raising concerns among employees about job security and long-term career stability.
Soumyarendra Barik is Special Correspondent with The Indian Express and reports on the intersection of technology, policy and society. With over five years of newsroom experience, he has reported on issues of gig workers' rights, privacy, India's prevalent digital divide and a range of other policy interventions that impact big tech companies. He once also tailed a food delivery worker for over 12 hours to quantify the amount of money they make, and the pain they go through while doing so. In his free time, he likes to nerd about watches, Formula 1 and football. ... Read More