TCS Clarifies: Only 6,000 Employees Released Despite Exaggerated Layoff Reports in IT Sector Restructuring

Sudeep Kunnumal stated, "As we speak today, we are close to one per cent of people" (Representational)

New Delhi:

TCS, India's largest IT services company, clarified on Thursday that it has "released" approximately one per cent or 6,000 people from its workforce as part of a restructuring initiative. CHRO Sudeep Kunnumal dismissed the "extremely exaggerated numbers" circulating in media reports, urging that these inflated figures be disregarded.

Tata Consultancy Services' Chief HR Officer Kunnumal emphasized that the company is "not chasing a number" in terms of workforce reduction.

When questioned about the actual scale of layoffs amid widespread concerns that numbers could reach 50,000-80,000, Kunnumal firmly stated that "a lot of these numbers are not factual, are extremely exaggerated" and "should be disregarded."

Meanwhile, IT workers' union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) issued a statement reporting that TCS officially recorded a closing headcount of 593,314 employees in Q2 FY26, compared to 613,069 employees in Q1 FY26.

"This represents a net reduction of 19,755 employees in just one quarter," according to NITES.

Kunnumal clarified on Thursday, "As we speak today, we are close to one per cent of people, that we have released in mid and senior level, whom we could not redeploy in the right role." When asked if one per cent equated to only 6,000 people, Kunnumal confirmed, "yes, right at the mid and senior level segment".

He highlighted that the company hired 18,500 people during the recently concluded quarter, and assured that all offers made have been honored.

"As an organization, we will continue to honour all the offers," he stated, adding that the company remains on track regarding onboarding campus offers.

When questioned whether TCS would proceed with the 40,000-plus hiring target for FY26 (as mentioned in July) or if this figure had been revised due to global market conditions, he responded: "I don't want to give you a number...based on business demand, we will support and we will try to bring the best of the talent for our organisation to shape the journey." Kunnumal emphasized that TCS aims to become the world's largest AI-led tech services company.

In July this year, TCS had announced plans to lay off approximately two per cent, or 12,261 employees, of its global workforce, with most affected employees belonging to middle and senior grades. The company had then described this move as part of its broader strategy to become a "future-ready organisation," focusing on investments in technology, AI deployment, market expansion, and workforce realignment.

However, unions have contested the reported layoff figures and accused TCS of employing pressure tactics, alleging that the company threatened to withhold salaries and benefits.

"What we had communicated when we initiated this exercise, is that we will do this with a lot of empathy and respect. And I want to say with conviction and confidence that we did that, we created dedicated teams to have extreme empathetic conversations, to be able to help them with that. We did some benchmark on severance packages for the people (who were affected)," Kunnumal explained.

Kunnumal also noted that as the company enters the current quarter, it will be paying higher quarterly bonuses or variable elements compared to previous quarters.

"Basically, it covers all the people who have been with our organisation, who are entitled for the quarterly bonus, except maybe for new joinees... but it covers practically every one... normally, at the junior level we have been paying 100 per cent, which is what will continue and for seniors, we will pay a higher amount, which is again based on the individual and unit performance," he concluded.