Mumbai, July 17: The TCS 35-day bench policy deadline ended on July 17, 2025 (today), causing fear among the employees about the upcoming layoffs. The TCS bench policy was implemented on June 12, saying that the employees could stay on the bench for 35 days without a project. However, the policy has now come into effect, leading to worry and anxiety among thousands of employees working at Tata Consultancy Services.

Today, the TCS 35-day bench policy completed its first cycle, and the employees took to social media platforms like Reddit to share their concerns about job security, career growth, and project allocations at the company. The IT employee group said that TCS's bench policy was "punishing" and "coercive." People posted on social media that it was the first step towards employment rationalisation based on utilisation and that the employees should brace for layoffs. Walmart Layoffs: US-Based Retail Giant Cutting Hundreds of Jobs to Simplify Organisational Structure, Affecting Store-Support, Market Coordinators and Coaches, Say Reports.

TCS 35-Day Bench Policy: All You Need To Know

Under the new TCS bench policy, employees can stay on a bench for 35 days a year without a project. Due to this, the employees fear that the company may soon announce layoffs. According to reports, as per industry estimates, around 15 to 18% of employees in large IT firms are on the bench. Tata Consultancy Services is the largest IT company with around 6.1 lakh employees. 

Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), an organisation dedicated to working for the rights and welfare of the employees, wrote a letter to Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya criticising the move by TCS. NITES president Harpreet Singh Saluja said that the employees that the Tata Consultancy Services referred to were not "non-performing" individuals. Still, they were skilled professionals who were temporarily staying without project allocation.  In the letter, Saluja also said that TCS threatened employees with termination and denied issuing experience letters if they failed to meet the "unrealistic deployment timings". Tech Layoffs Surge in 2025: 74,437 Employees Laid Off in Technology Sector This Year by 157 Companies; Intel, Microsoft, Meta and Others Cut Thousands.

Arguments in Favour of TCS 35-Day Bench Policy 

Some employees have favoured this new policy, saying that many would stay on the bench without projects for years and avoid offers, using time for personal benefit. However, the TCS bench policy could trim some "seriously" underperforming resources. TCS CEO and MD K Krithivasan said that the policy was a "more structured version" of what was long expected from the company. He said employees should take responsibility for their careers and proactively seek assignments. 

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 17, 2025 03:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).