Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s biggest IT exporter, has confirmed that it has let go of about 1 per cent of its workforce of roughly 6,000 employees  mostly from mid and senior management levels. The clarification comes from Chief HR Officer Sudeep Kunnumal following the company’s latest quarterly results. Kunnumal also dismissed rumours of massive layoffs ranging between 50,000 and 80,000, calling them “extremely exaggerated” and urging everyone to ignore such claims, according to a PTI report.

TCS Denies Mass Layoffs, Calls It a Strategic Realignment

Addressing the ongoing speculation, Kunnumal explained that TCS is “not chasing a number” but making thoughtful, business-driven decisions. He stated, “As we speak today, we are close to one per cent of people that we have released in mid and senior level, whom we could not redeploy in the right role.” According to the PTI report, the company is focusing on realigning its workforce to meet evolving business requirements rather than carrying out mass layoffs.

TCS Workforce Sees Quarterly Dip, But Hiring Remains Strong

According to the IT workers’ union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), TCS’s headcount fell from 613,069 in Q1 FY26 to 593,314 in Q2 FY26, marking a net reduction of 19,755 employees in just one quarter. Despite this, Kunnumal emphasized that the company hired 18,500 new employees during the same period, reassuring, “As an organisation, we will continue to honour all the offers.”

TCS Reports Earlier Layoffs with Severance Packages

In July, TCS had reduced around 12,261 positions, approximately 2 per cent of its workforce, due to disruptions from artificial intelligence and uncertain market demand. A recent TOI report revealed that employees impacted, particularly in mid and senior leadership roles, were offered structured severance packages.