Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported a total headcount of 5,93,314 employees in Q2 FY26, 19,755 jobs lower than the 613,069 headcount reported three months earlier.

In July, TCS announced plans to reduce its global workforce by about 2 per cent over the year, primarily in middle and senior grades, as part of its journey to become future-ready. However, the workforce now stands at 5.9 lakh, resulting in a reduction of nearly 20,000 jobs, far exceeding the 12,000 layoffs cited earlier. Further, the company reported a voluntary LTM attrition of 13.3 per cent.

Layoffs mix voluntary and involuntary exits

During the analyst call, Sudeep Kunnumal, Chief Human Resources Officer at TCS, said the 20,000 layoff figure is a factor of voluntary and involuntary removals.

“Of the announced 2 per cent, we have done approximately 1 per cent. We’re not chasing a target. We continue to evaluate everyone after all the investment in learning and development we’ve done. Where we find certain mid- and senior-level people unable to find the right role based on their seniority, we will release them with a lot of care,” said Kunnumal, reiterating the company’s estimate of a 2 per cent layoff.

NITES slams TCS over lack of transparency

Meanwhile, the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) said the news raises serious concerns about transparency.

“The company’s own fact sheets publicly available and filed as part of its financial disclosures clearly expose the truth. This is not a minor difference. Nearly 8,000 employees more than what TCS admitted have disappeared from the rolls,” said Harpreet Singh Saluja, President of NITES, claiming a deliberate attempt to downplay the scale of retrenchments.

Regarding the use of the term ‘voluntary’, Saluja said the fall in attrition from 13.8 per cent to 13.3 per cent shows that 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,” said Saluja.

Analysts flag optics of ‘voluntary attrition’ term

Greyhound Research said the fall in headcount has unsettled investors because it breaks with the pattern of quiet consistency that has defined TCS for years.

“For many, the company has long stood as the reference point for stability — growing carefully, disclosing openly and keeping surprises to a minimum. The sudden scale of this change, and the accompanying shift in terminology, naturally draws attention,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst and Founder at Greyhound Research.

However, rather than the downsizing itself, Gogia criticised the manner in which the layoff was announced. The decision to replace LTM attrition with voluntary LTM attrition has created a gap between intention and perception, according to Gogia.

“In ordinary circumstances, attrition refers to people leaving by choice. Adding voluntary sounds like a hedge, suggesting there is something else in play. The phrase has made investors wonder whether the company is trying to manage optics instead of offering a full picture,” he said, stating that markets may forgive difficult numbers but do not settle on candour.

Published on October 9, 2025