TCS has said more job cuts are likely in the March quarter as it is only halfway through its planned 2% workforce reduction.
The company reported a net decline of about 11,000 employees in the December quarter, with only 1% attributed to forced exits so far.
The layoffs are linked to reskilling efforts in AI and digital roles, while TCS noted that some mid- and senior-level staff are unable to transition into new positions.
IT services firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has indicated that further job cuts are likely in the current quarter as part of its plan to reduce its workforce by about 2%.
Speaking during the company’s third-quarter earnings call, its Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Sudeep Kunnumal, said the downsizing exercise is still underway. He added that the company has completed only about half of the planned reduction so far.
1 January 2026
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“We estimate it to be approximately 2%. We are currently at 1%,” Kunnumal said, adding that employees are first assessed for redeployment. “The ones we are not able to re-deploy; those are the people that we will release.”
This suggests that more exits are expected in the January-March quarter, particularly among mid-level and senior employees, as TCS continues to review roles to align with changes in how it delivers services to clients.
During Q2 of financial year 2025-26 (FY26), TCS reported a net reduction of around 19,755 employees, or roughly 3% of its workforce. The company clarified that this figure includes both employees who left voluntarily and those who were asked to exit. According to the management, only about 1% of this reduction so far has been due to involuntary separations, indicating that a similar number of forced exits may still be ahead.
However, Kunnumal made it clear that involuntury layoffs have not concluded and the process is ongoing, stating that the company is still in the middle of the exercise.
TCS has linked the job cuts to a broader effort to reskill its workforce. Over the past year, the company has invested heavily in training employees for roles in AI, cloud computing and digital technologies. However, management acknowledged that not all employees, especially at higher levels of seniority, have been able to transition into these new roles.
“That is where we find certain mid and senior level people are not able to find the right role based on their seniority,” Kunnumal said, adding that such exits are being handled “with a lot of care.”
As a result of these changes, TCS reported a net reduction of 11,151 employees in the December quarter of FY26. The company’s total headcount stood at 5,82,163 at the end of the quarter, down from 5,93,314 in the previous quarter, according to its quarterly results released on January 12.
