TCS news: Karnataka IT Minister, Priyank Kharge, has denied reports that the state government will take action on Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) based
on a complaint by an IT union.
On Thursday, the Karnataka State IT/ITES Employees Union (KITU) filed an industrial dispute with the Karnataka Labour Department over TCS' proposed decision to sack 12,000 employees, which translated to 2% of its global workforce. The labour department promised the union that it would hold talks with TCS.
Speaking exclusively to ET Now, Kharge has said that reports suggesting that the Karnataka Government would take action on TCS for the layoffs were "unverified" and that the government was "wary" of having to intervene in the private sector.
"The Karnataka Government does not recognize any unions in sunrise sectors like IT or Biotech," said Kharge, speaking to ET Now along the sidelines of SAP Labs India inaugurating a new innovation park in Bengaluru. "While we don't recognize these unions, any industry body or union is free to approach the government with grievances in the industry that they might have."
He added: "The government is wary of the fact that it is being asked to intervene in the private sector, but we will be able to help sacked employees once we understand the problem fully."
The minister said that the government has reached out to IT firms based on the complaint made by KITU but was not planning to take action any company in particular: "There are unverified reports being passed around that the government is taking action; that is not true.
What the government is committing to do, Kharge said, was to help the private sector upskill and re-skill: "IT companies tell us that they overestimated quarterly business and thus had to let go of bench strength; We have also been told that these jobs were impacted by AI adoption." He added: "We are interested in partnering with the private sector to ensure upskilling - we want to have the most employable human resources and talent in the country."
Earlier, Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad had said that his department has asked Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to explain the reason behind large-scale layoffs. "Yesterday we got information that the TCS has laid off 12,000 employees. Our department has called TCS officials just to have consultation to know the reason," the minister told reporters, as per a PTI report.
He said Sunrise Industries have been exempted from labour laws but there are conditions attached. "We have kept the sunrise companies outside the ambit of labour laws and for the past five years we have been giving them exemption year after year but yet there are conditions attached," Lad said.
A sunrise sector refers to a new or relatively new industry that is experiencing rapid growth and is expected to become a significant driver of the economy in the future.
"If they want to layoff somebody, they have to give us information. Accordingly, we are talking to them," he added.
TCS had indicated that it is set to lay off about 2 per cent, or 12,261 employees, of its global workforce this year, with the majority of those impacted belonging to middle and senior grades.
As of June 30, 2025, TCS's workforce stood at 6,13,069. It increased its workforce by 5,000 employees in the recently concluded April-June quarter. The move is part of the company's broader strategy to become a "future-ready organisation", focusing on investments in technology, AI deployment, market expansion, and workforce realignment, TCS said in a statement.
