TCS Recruitment Delay: India's Largest IT Company Receives Notice From Maharashtra's Labour Ministry

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services company, has received a notice from Maharashtra’s labour and employment ministry regarding the company’s delay in onboarding lateral recruits, according to a Business Standard report. The complaint was filed by the Pune-based IT employees’ union, Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), in July 2023.

According to the NITES complaint, more than 200 employees have been impacted by the delay in lateral recruitment.

Maharashtra’s labour ministry in its notice said, “A joint meeting between the company and the complainant will be held to address the issue on November 2, 2023, at noon.”

The NITES in the notice also said a company representative with valid documents should be present at the meeting venue.

NITES President Harpreet Saluja in a statement said, “NITES has drawn attention to the plight of these employees who, in good faith, resigned from their previous positions after receiving employment offers and joining dates from TCS. These professionals, with varying experience levels ranging from 1.8 to 15 years, now find themselves without a source of income, facing financial distress, and unable to meet family responsibilities.”

He also said the number has now reportedly exceeded 2,000. However, the number could not be confirmed independently.

According to the Business Standard report quoting one affected individual, “I have completed all interview rounds, and the human resource (HR) department sent me the salary breakdown via email for acknowledgement. I accepted the salary terms, and HR said they would release the offer letter within a week. It’s been four months, and despite numerous calls to HR, they claim it’s on hold and will take more time. I have already resigned and am now unemployed because of TCS.”

During the September 2023 quarter, TCS’ headcount fell by 6,333. Its total number of employees as of September 30 this year stood at Rs 608,985, compared with 6,15,318.

Its IT services attrition on the last-twelveth-month stood at 14.9 per cent during the September 2023 quarter, which is lower than in previous quarters.

On the hiring plans, TCS Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad in an analysts’ call post Q2 results on October 11 said, “Our strategy of proactively hiring bright freshers and investing in training them with the right skills is paying off now. With that talent coming on stream and with reduced attrition, we were able to recalibrate our gross additions, keeping it below the departures during the quarter, driving the productivity, and enhancing project outcomes.”

Though he did not explicitly say if the company visiting campuses for hiring or not, the company is calibrating its hiring plans.