TCS hints at more layoffs; total headcount down by 19,755 in Q2

Bengaluru: TCS, which has recorded a one-time restructuring expense of Rs 1,135 crore, mostly towards severance pay, in the second quarter, hints at more layoffs in the coming quarter.

The company's workforce has declined by 19,755 employees in the second quarter alone. Its closing headcount stood at 593,314 as of September 2025, compared to 6,13,069 employees in June quarter.

Earlier in July, the company announced job cuts that will impact 2 per cent of its global workforce or about 12,250 employees. In the analyst call, the company's senior executives said, in Q2, they reduced the workforce by 1 per cent or about 6,000 people and the other 1 per cent will be reduced in the coming quarter.

It will also continue to evaluate people who can be redeployed and those who could not be. The newly appointed Chief HR officer Sudeep Kunnumal said the reduction in headcount also includes voluntary attrition. Voluntary attrition in IT Services stood at 13.3% in the second quarter.

Talking about redundancy charges, K Krithivasan, CEO and MD said, "We would be continuing this exercise throughout the year and are not chasing a particular number here. So whenever we are paying redundancy charges, we will take the charge appropriately in the next two quarters. But I don't want to quantify. I cannot quantify what the number would be at this time."

Meanwhile, Harpreet Singh Saluja , President, Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) said the reduction is deeply alarming given that attrition has actually fallen (from 13.8% in Q1 to 13.3% in Q2), which means these exits were not voluntary but management-driven.

"TCS has continued to grow revenue during the same period, proving that business performance cannot be used as a justification for such drastic cuts. Employees who gave 10–15 years of loyalty are today being cornered, threatened, and discarded overnight. This is not restructuring; this is corporate cruelty. TCS has chosen profits over people, turning its workplace into a fear factory and betraying the very workforce that built its empire," he claimed.