TCS doubles down on campus hiring despite 12,000 senior job cuts
MUMBAI, INDIA — Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is aggressively pursuing campus recruitment even as it trims 12,000 middle and senior roles, signaling a dramatic workforce restructuring.
India’s largest IT firm plans to hire 40,000 freshers this fiscal year while saving an estimated ₹1,830 crore (US$208.9 million) through executive layoffs, as it pivots toward cheaper, digitally skilled talent amid global tech spending cuts, according to a report from Mint.
Cost-driven workforce restructuring
The math is compelling: Replacing executives earning ₹15 lakh (US$17,124.90) annually with freshers at ₹4 (US$4,566.40) to ₹6 lakh (US$6,849.60) and ₹13 lakh (US$14,843.01) could save over ₹1,830 crore (US$208.9 million), crucial as quarter one revenue dipped 0.59% to $7.42 billion.
This trend is similar to that of Infosys, Wipro, and HCLTech, which are each focusing on cost-effective hires of approximately 20,000, 10,000, and 7,000 freshers per company, respectively.
The retrenchment follows postponed wage increments and the pressure from a global decline in discretionary tech expenditure.
The company, however, states that it still aims to hire 40,000 freshers, emphasizing its CodeVita hackathon and direct campus recruitment from institutes such as Ramaiah and PES University.
Placement officers note strong demand for niche skills for roles like “Ninja,” “Digital,” and “Prime” hires.
Campus hiring as a strategic lifeline
Despite market headwinds, TCS is making significant investments on campuses, utilizing its CodeVita hackathon and forming partnerships with esteemed institutions such as Sharda University and Manipal Academy.
Last year, the campus hiring initiative absorbed 42,000 graduates, and this year’s virtual tests are already underway; however, some people doubt that the target of 40,000 hires can be met due to layoffs.
Colleges report unchanged demand for coders but note heightened focus on soft skills, mirroring Wipro’s English assessments and LTIMindtree’s coding assessments. At Ramaiah Institute, salaries start at ₹6 lakh (US$6,849.60) for data analytics roles, while rivals like Infosys lure talent with higher packages.
TCS’s hybrid approach—combining hackathons, campus drives, and lateral hiring—aims to future-proof its workforce, but questions linger about balancing cost cuts with innovation.
TCS recently ranked #8 in the OA500 2025, an objective index of the world’s top 500 outsourcing companies.
