Layoffs cost TCS ₹1,135 crore in one-time loss

MUMBAI: The largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has said it has taken a one-time employee restructuring expense of Rs 1,135 crore in the September quarter by laying off as many as 12,200 of its over 0.61 million workforce as it seeks to realign roles across the organisation.

After the layoff and restructuring, TCS, which is the country’s largest employer in the private sector, employs 6,13,069 worldwide as of the September quarter. In the June 2025 quarter, the company had net added 5,090. In July, the company said that as part of the realignment process, it would lay off around 12,200 employees, which is about 2% of the total workforce.

The headcount was down even in a quarter when attrition fell to 13.3%, from the previous quarter’s 13.8%, the company said. This means that the company did not net add employees in the reporting quarter—more people left the company than it hired.

Across industries and not just software companies, layoffs are becoming more common as they deploy more technology to offer better solutions and also part of cost cutting. For software players like TCS, which draw almost 50% of its business from the US, the situation has been made worse with the US administration's trade war with India apart from the H1-B visa fee hike and the proposed 25% tariff on US companies outsourcing their work to third parties.

Amid this exceptional item, classified as employee restructuring expenses, the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 12,075 crore, a marginal 1.4% uptick from last year, the company informed the stock exchanges filing Thursday.

The Mumbai-headquartered company’s revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 65,799 crore, marking a 3.7% sequential rise and 0.8% growth in constant currency terms, which beat the street estimates.

Chief executive K Krithivasan had earlier described the 2% layoff as part of a phased restructuring targeting mid- and senior-level roles and that the company would pay them a severance package.

Employees and unions claim the actual number of exits is far higher, alleging that many are being asked to resign voluntarily to keep official layoff numbers low. Following this, many unions including the All India IT & ITeS Employees’ Union, the Forum for IT Employees, and Union of IT & ITES Employees have held protests and campaigns against what they call “forced resignations” and “coerced exits.”