TCS undertakes steepest-ever job cuts with 20,000 jobs axed

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT exporter and private-sector employer, has reported its sharpest workforce reduction to date, reflecting the twin challenges of artificial intelligence adoption and strained US-India trade relations that are reshaping the country’s $280-billion technology sector.

For the quarter ended September 30, the company trimmed its headcount by 19,755 employees, marking the steepest cut in a single quarter. 

With this, TCS’s workforce has fallen below the six-lakh mark for the first time in over two years, a significant shift for India’s outsourcing giant.

According to reports, the TCS reduced its workforce by 19,755 employees, which includes both voluntary exits and layoffs, marking a 3.2% decline from the previous quarter. 

The company’s workforce has fallen below 6,00,000 for the first time since 2022, with ₹11.35 billion earmarked for severance expenses.

TCS Chief Human Resources Officer Sudeep Kunnumal told analysts that the ongoing restructuring mainly impacts mid- and senior-level positions, facing what he described as a “skill and capability mismatch,” Bloomberg reported. 

The company is about halfway through its plan to trim 2% of its global workforce by March 2026, aiming to realign with its growing focus on AI and automation-driven services.