Aug 7, 2025: India's largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) informed employees that it will roll-out wage hikes for about 80 per cent of workforce, covering mid to junior levels.
The wage hikes comes at a time when TCS is set to lay off about 12,000 employees this year.
The wage hikes will be effective September 1, TCS CHRO Milind Lakkad and CHRO Designate K Sudeep said in an email to employees on Wednesday.
"We are pleased to announce a compensation revision for all eligible associates in grades upto C3A and equivalent, covering 80 per cent of our workforce. "This will go into effect on September 1, 2025," says the email that PTI saw. "We would like to thank each of you for your dedication and hard work, as we build the future of TCS together," the email continues. It was difficult to determine immediately the extent of wage increases. When reached for comment, the company in a statement said: "We can confirm that we will be issuing wage hikes to around 80 per cent of our employees effective 1st September 2025." TCS has decided to lay off over 12,000 employees as part of a broader strategy to become a "future-ready organization," and the move to reward and retain talent comes at the same time. This entails focus on investments in technology, AI deployment, market expansion, and workforce realignment, according to the company.
"TCS is on a journey to become a company that is ready for the future. "This includes strategic initiatives on multiple fronts, such as investing in new technology areas, entering new markets, deploying AI at scale for our clients and ourselves, deepening our partnerships, creating next-generation infrastructure, and realigning our workforce model," the company stated last month as the IT industry was shaken by the news of layoffs. "A number of reskilling and redeployment initiatives have been in progress in this direction. We will also be releasing associates from the organization who may not be able to be deployed as part of this journey. "Over the course of the year, this will have an impact on approximately 2% of our global workforce, primarily in the middle and senior grades," TCS had stated at the time. The layoffs at TCS have, in fact, ignited larger conversations on whether or not the IT industry itself may be headed for a major reset, amid turbulence from global macro uncertainties, impact of US' crushing tariffs on overall outsourcing sentiments, and the AI-led disruptions.
As it stands, India's top IT service providers saw single-digit revenue growth in the first quarter of FY26, capping off a somewhat gloomy June quarter marked by global tech demand being impacted by geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic instability.