By Hamad 
India’s biggest IT company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is undergoing a significant change in 2025. Due to the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation, and cloud technology, TCS is letting go of employees whose skills don’t match the company’s future needs. This change affects about 12,000 employees, which is roughly 2% of their global team.
To ensure a smooth and fair transition, TCS is offering structured severance packages and support services to the affected staff. This move is less about reducing costs and more about ensuring the company remains competitive by having a workforce ready for the digital future.
Why Are These Job Cuts Happening?
The global technology industry is changing incredibly fast. Traditional IT roles, which focused on older systems and processes, are becoming less important. At the same time, demand for people skilled in AI, data science, and cloud computing is skyrocketing.
TCS’s decision to lay off employees is a strategic effort to:
- Match Skills to Client Needs: Clients now want high-tech, digital solutions. The company is getting rid of roles that use outdated skills and is focusing on building teams with the knowledge required for tomorrow’s technology.
- Become “Future-Ready”: TCS Layoffs Severance Packageis reorganizing its business to be leaner and more efficient in the age of automation. This means traditional, multi-layered management structures are being replaced by a more agile and focused setup.
- Manage Costs: While not the main reason, reducing the number of employees whose skills are no longer billed to clients helps the company manage its operating costs better in a slow economy.
The majority of these changes were completed by the end of September 2025.
What Financial Packages Are Being Offered? TCS Layoffs Severance Package
TCS is offering a comprehensive, tiered severance plan that is considered generous, especially for employees who have worked for the company for many years.
1. The Mandatory Notice Pay
Every single affected employee, regardless of their role or how long they have worked there, will receive three months of salary as standard notice pay. This is the minimum payout.
2. Severance Based on Loyalty (Tenure)
Employees who are laid off receive an additional large payment based on their total service time with TCS. This payment is added on top of the three months’ notice pay:
| Years of Service at TCS | Additional Severance Pay | Total Payout (Approximate) |
| Less than 5 years | 6 months of salary | 9 months’ salary |
| 5–10 years | Around 12 months of salary (1 year) | 15 months’ salary |
| 10–15 years | About 1.5 years of salary (18 months) | 21 months’ salary |
| More than 15 years | Up to 2 years of salary (24 months) | Up to 27 months’ salary |
This means a very long-serving employee could receive a total payout equivalent to well over two years’ salary, providing a strong financial safety net during their job search.
3. Support for Employees Nearing Retirement
For long-serving employees close to retirement age,TCS Layoffs Severance Package an Early Retirement Scheme (ERS). Those who take the ERS not only get their full retirement benefits (like insurance coverage) but also receive an additional severance package ranging from six months to two years’ salary, depending on their total tenure.
4. Rules for ‘Bench’ Employees
The rules are different for employees who have been on the “bench”—meaning they have been unassigned to any client projects for a long time (specifically, over eight months).
- These bench employees usually qualify only for the three months’ notice pay and do not receive the extended tenure-based severance.
- It’s important to note that TCS is only targeting those bench staff who have been unallocated for a very long time and where no suitable new role could be found.
Beyond the Money: Transition Support
TCS Layoffs Severance Package understands that losing a job is difficult, so they are providing non-financial support to help employees move forward:
- Career Help: The company is paying for Outplacement Services. These services involve external agencies that help the exiting employees update their resumes, practice interviews, and actively look for their next job. This support often lasts for at least three months.
- Mental Well-being: Through the “TCS Cares Programme,” the company is offering therapy and counselling services to select employees to support their emotional and mental health during this stressful time.
- Second Chances: In some cases, employees are given a chance to explore internal redeployment by connecting with the Resource Management Group (RMG) to see if a suitable role still exists within a different part of the organization before they finalize their exit.
The Big Lesson for All Tech Professionals
The TCS restructuring is a loud, clear signal to every IT professional in India: reskilling is no longer optional—it is essential for survival.
These layoffs are a reflection of a massive shift in the IT industry. Companies worldwide are cutting jobs linked to older technologies while aggressively hiring for AI engineers, cloud architects, and cybersecurity specialists.The generous severance packages provide a cushion, but they do not solve the long-term problem. Professionals who ignore the need to learn new, in-demand skills like machine learning, generative AI, and advanced data analysis risk facing the same job uncertainty in the future. The ability to continuously learn and adapt is the single most important skill for a long career in the modern tech world.
