Viewpoint of unions representing IT & ITES workers
In a move that has sparked widespread outrage across the Indian IT sector, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)—India’s largest IT services firm—has initiated what is being described as a massive and arbitrary retrenchment drive, impacting over 12,000 employees, many of them in their mid-career phase. While the company justifies this move as part of a business model overhaul, trade unions have condemned the layoffs as morally indefensible, legally dubious, and socially destructive.
Business Growth vs. Job Cuts: The Fundamental Ethical Dilemma
TCS continues to post stable revenues and profits, with its FY2025 earnings showing steady client acquisition and healthy margins. Executive salaries—including that of CEO K. Krithivasan (₹26 crore annual package)—have seen significant growth. Yet, thousands of workers, many with 10–20 years of service, find themselves handed informal pink slips.
This raises a fundamental ethical question:
Is it morally justifiable to terminate loyal, mid-career employees when business is growing and profits are robust?
From a trade union standpoint, this represents the deep contradiction of contemporary corporate capitalism:
“People are treated as dispensable inputs—even when they are the backbone of sustained growth.”
Who Is Being Targeted? The Crisis of Mid-Career Professionals
The layoffs are disproportionately affecting middle- and senior-level employees—aged between 35 and 50—who typically:
• Have built their lives around job security
• Support aging parents, children’s education, and often home loans
• Have limited re-employment prospects due to ageism in the IT hiring market
This economic shock is not just professional—it is existential.
“A 40-year-old with two kids in school, elderly parents, and EMIs cannot simply ‘upskill’ overnight. Retrenching such individuals is not just callous—it is social violence.”
— Forum for IT Employees (FITE)
Trade Union Reaction: Legal, Ethical and Political Resistance
NITES (Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate)
• Filed an official complaint with the Union Labour Ministry, calling the retrenchments illegal and inhuman.
• Accused TCS of violating the Industrial Disputes Act, which mandates:
• Government notification
• One month’s notice or pay in lieu
• Retrenchment compensation
“Employees are being forced to resign quietly—this is not voluntary separation but corporate coercion,” said Harpreet Saluja, NITES President.
KITU (Karnataka IT/ITeS Employees Union)
• Filed an industrial dispute in the Karnataka Labour Department
• Highlighted the absence of severance packages, violation of notice norms, and abuse of the “bench” policy to isolate and pressurize employees
FITE (Forum for IT Employees)
• Urged affected workers to refuse to resign under pressure
• Demanded:
• Transparent layoffs with severance
• A one-year health cover
• Re-skilling support
• Accused TCS of prioritizing shareholder profits over human dignity
Social & Psychological Consequences of Retrenchment
Trade unions point out the wider human cost of layoffs, especially for mid-aged employees:
| Impact Area | Consequences |
|---|---|
| Mental Health | Depression, anxiety, loss of self-worth |
| Family Stability | Children’s education disrupted, marital stress |
| Financial Pressure | EMIs, health costs, and retirement insecurity |
| Professional Identity | Difficulty in re-entering the industry after 40 |
| Urban Migration | Reverse migration due to unaffordability in metro cities |
Retrenchment at this stage of life is not just a career setback—it’s often a life-altering rupture.
Legal vs. Ethical: A Blurred Line
While TCS may argue that it has the “managerial prerogative” to realign its workforce, unions argue that retrenchment must follow the law and be guided by ethical considerations:
• The law demands process, compensation, and government oversight.
• Ethics demand loyalty be reciprocated, and that profits not come at the cost of people’s lives.
There’s also the question of equity: if a company is profitable, has cash reserves, and is paying its top executives crores in bonuses—why are employees being shown the door?
Trade Union Demands at a Glance
| Demand | Description |
|---|---|
| Immediate halt to layoffs | Stop all terminations until legal scrutiny is complete |
| No forced resignations | Employees must not be coerced into leaving |
| Retrenchment benefits | Full severance, notice, and legal dues |
| Medical and re-skilling support | At least 12 months of insurance and training |
| Government intervention | Labour Ministry must regulate IT sector layoffs |
| Right to organize | Recognition of IT unions and collective bargaining |
The Need for Sectoral Reform
This episode is not isolated. Indian IT giants have increasingly adopted “fire-at-will” practices under the guise of realignment, restructuring, or automation. Unions argue that the IT sector must no longer be treated as “beyond the scope” of labour law.
“The government must stop being a silent spectator. The IT sector is not an island—it must be made to answer to Indian labour law, constitutional morality, and the ethics of employment,”
— KITU spokesperson
Conclusion: Beyond Legality—A Call for Humanity
From the trade union perspective, the TCS layoffs are not just a technical HR decision. They represent:
• A betrayal of employee loyalty
• A collapse of the moral contract between employer and worker
• A symptom of profit-first capitalism eroding basic human dignity
In an era where CEOs earn crores and companies boast of “digital transformation,” the treatment of workers reveals the real face of the system.
Final word:
“A nation that talks of being a digital superpower cannot achieve that by throwing its skilled professionals into unemployment at mid-age. Growth must be shared—not hoarded.”
— NITES Statement to Labour Ministry