TCS to fire one percent of techies this fiscal

Indian IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Tuesday admitted that one percent of its total employees (techies) would be fired this fiscal (2014-15) for non-performance or failure to specialise in a particular domain required for its various projects.

"The total involuntary attrition (terminating service) for the current fiscal year (FY 2015) will be around one percent, as it was 0.8 percent (2,574 employees) for the first nine months (of 2014-15)," the $13-billion global software major said in a statement here.

As the largest employer in the IT industry as well as the private sector, TCS currently has a whopping 313,757 techies, including over 100,000 women. Freshers account for 60 percent and laterals 40 percent.

The outsourcing major said 2,203 employees were laid off in 2013-14 and 2,132 in 2012-13.

Asserting that performance appraisals were an integral part of its operations, the company claimed that it had neither initiated nor planned to initiate any large scale exits of its staff.

"We have clarified to our employees over the last few weeks that allegations about large scale layoffs were false and baseless," the statement said.

Observing that the organisation was built on strong employee values, the company said it nurtured in house talent and was the largest job creator in the country.

"Our leadership status presents many growth opportunities for our employees and is reflected in the fact that we have the highest employee retention levels in the industry," the statement added.

The company is on target to hire 55,000 techies this fiscal, including 35,000 engineering students from 370 institutions across the country.

"We have made job offers to 31,000 youth in the first eight months of this fiscal," TCS global Human Resources head Ajoyendra Mukherjee told reporters here Dec 12.