Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is facing a wave of internal anxiety and external criticism after implementing a new bench policy that limits the time an employee can remain unassigned to just 35 days. Introduced on June 12, this change is triggering serious concern among thousands of its workforce, with the potential for wide-ranging consequences across India’s IT sector.
What the New Policy Means
The bench policy formalizes what was previously a more loosely enforced practice: employees are now required to find a new project within 35 days of being released from one, or they risk:
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Losing promotions
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Being transferred to mismatched roles
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Job termination
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Denial of experience letters, according to employee rights group NITES
Widespread Employee Anxiety
Many employees have taken to platforms like Reddit to express:
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Forced assignment to projects outside their domain (e.g., a Java-trained engineer placed in a support role)
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Relocation pressures to cities far from home
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Harsh deadlines to find projects amidst limited client approvals
One Redditor described the policy as “employment rationalisation based on utilisation,” predicting impending layoffs.
Scale of the Impact
TCS has a workforce of over 6.13 lakh (613,000) employees. With 15–18% typically on the bench, this means roughly 90,000–110,000 employees could be affected if they do not find a project quickly.
Criticism from Employee Unions
The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has accused TCS of:
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Coercion and threats
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Withholding experience letters
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Labeling temporarily unassigned professionals as non-performers
NITES President Harpreet Singh Saluja emphasized that these are not underperformers but skilled professionals needing support.
TCS Management’s Justification
CEO K Krithivasan defended the policy, stating:
“It’s always been expected that associates take responsibility for their careers.”
He added that:
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HR will assist in finding roles, but employees must also be proactive.
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Project allocations depend on client requirements, not personal preferences.
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TCS continues to invest in upskilling, trying to bridge gaps before deployment.
However, he avoided directly answering whether salaries are being withheld for long-bench employees.
Underlying Reasons
The change comes amid declining quarterly results and a challenging macroeconomic environment:
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TCS reported its third consecutive quarterly decline
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Wage costs hit ₹37,715 crore (59.5% of revenue)
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Attrition remains high at 13.8%
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Pressure is mounting due to AI-driven automation, reducing demand for routine IT roles
According to IT consultant Pareekh Jain, companies are likely to enforce stricter utilisation and reskilling mandates to align with changing market conditions.
Industry-Wide Ripple Effect
The policy is not isolated to TCS:
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HCL Tech is also struggling with project delays and skills-location mismatches
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Experts like Nitin Bhatt (EY India) predict that skills, not seniority, will increasingly drive promotions and raises
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Areas like AI, cybersecurity, and digital engineering are becoming crucial to survival in the IT sector
Summary
TCS’s new bench policy marks a major shift in how India’s largest IT firm handles staffing, pushing for aggressive utilisation and self-managed career progression. While some see it as a long-overdue move to weed out inefficiencies, many employees—and advocacy groups—view it as harsh, destabilizing, and potentially exploitative. The broader IT industry may soon follow suit, making this a pivotal moment in how tech firms manage human resources amid automation and shrinking margins.
