Shares Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) declined sharply in early trade on Monday following news of IT bellwether company laying off 12,000 employees in FY26.
At 10.12 am TCS shares were trading 1.14 percent lower at Rs 3,099.90 apiece on BSE.
The Indian stock market opened in the red on Monday as information technology (IT) stocks saw selling pressure. At 9.29 am, Sensex slipped 242 points or 0.30 per cent at 81,220 and Nifty declined 63 points or 0.26 per cent at 24,773. The Nifty Bank fell 0.28 per cent to 56,384. The Nifty IT index and Nifty realty were the worst performer among sectoral peers, shedding 0.61 per cent and 2.75 per cent respectively.
“The sharp cut in the IT index has been dragging the market down, and there is no respite in view of the 2 per cent cut in its global workforce announced by TCS. However, midcap IT names hold promise in view of their strong growth prospects,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited said.
News of the IT giant going for massive lay off in FY26 as part of a major restructuring move came on Friday. The decision, which affects roughly 2 per cent of its global workforce, is aimed at making the company “future-ready and agile” in the face of rapidly evolving technologies and workplace models, as per the reports.
TCS, which had a total headcount of 6.13 lakh employees as of June 2025, will implement the layoffs across various domains and geographies.
Most of those impacted are expected to be at the middle and senior levels. Reports suggest that the decision is not being driven by cost-cutting or automation, but rather due to challenges in redeploying talent whose current roles no longer align with the company’s evolving skill requirements.
The company is focusing on large-scale deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies, which are reshaping demand across the IT sector.
Although TCS clarified that AI is not directly replacing jobs, analysts believe that roles like manual testing are shrinking, and some senior professionals are struggling to adapt to newer, tech-driven environments.
To support affected employees, the company is offering severance packages, extended insurance, notice period pay, and help with finding alternative job opportunities, according to the reports.
The news comes shortly after TCS announced a net profit of Rs 12,760 crore for Q1 FY26 — reflecting a year-on-year growth of 6 per cent.
