TCS layoffs: ‘12,000 is a very huge number’ — Karnataka minister says will look into labour law leniency

India’s largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had recently announced its plans to lay off 12,261 employees, or about 2 per cent of its global workforce, this year. The majority of those impacted belong to middle- and senior-level employees.

Reacting to the development, Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad on Thursday said that his government will look into labour law leniency given to sunrise companies in the state.

“TCS laying off 12,000 is alarming; will look into labour law leniency given to sunrise companies,” Santosh Lad told PTI.

“Something unique this is because all of a sudden 12,000 people, that too TCS, is a very huge number… it is an alarming one; our people are talking to them… I will also get to know the reason beyond it… will look into labour law … leniency has always been given to sunrise companies,” said Minister Santosh Lad was quoted as saying in a Hindustan Times report.

According to a separate report by PTI, the IT ministry is keeping a close watch on the situation arising out of TCS’s decision to lay off over 12,000 employees.

The ministry is concerned and will go into the underlying causes that prompted the move.

NITES seeks govt intervention

Meanwhile, the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has approached Union Minister for Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya and urged that the government issue a notice to TCS seeking an explanation.

As of June 30, 2025, the TCS workforce stood at 613,069. It raised its workforce by 5,000 in the first quarter ended June 30, 2025 of the fiscal year 2026.

The move is part of the IT company’s broader strategy to become a “future-ready organisation”, focusing on investments in technology, AI deployment, market expansion, and workforce realignment, TCS had said in a statement.

“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,” it said.

The company had said it will provide appropriate benefits, outplacement, counselling, and support to the impacted employees.

The development comes at a time when India’s top IT services companies have delivered single-digit revenue growth in the first quarter of FY26, capping off a somewhat sobering June quarter, as macroeconomic instability and geopolitical tensions weighed on global tech demand and delayed client decision-making.

Headquartered in Mumbai, TCS is a part of the Tata Group and operates in 150 locations across 46 countries. On Thursday, the IT bellwether stock was trading 0.34 per cent lower at the BSE.