IT layoff numbers are overstated: Top TCS executive

As the IT industry battles allegations of mass layoffs, Ravi Viswanathan, president (growth markets), TCS, says the numbers are exaggerated.

“Somebody has to take a closer look at the numbers. Most companies have said there are no layoffs but performance-related send-offs. Layoff means there is no work and such a company would not hire more. This industry has no concept of layoff, especially at this time,” he said.

While several leading IT companies including Cognizant, Wipro and Tech Mahindra have been accused of layoffs, Mumbai-headquartered TCS is among the few that has not been at the receiving end of IT unions and disgruntled employees.

Defending the industry as a whole, Viswanathan said that early estimates from Nasscom indicate that the IT industry will be net hirers as the year ends. “We will not see a decrease in technology spend across the globe. This will translate into more dependence on IT services which means we will need more people,” he said.

While IT employees have alleged that they have been kept on the bench for long and have not been supported in case of low performance rating, Viswanathan said, “Every company has a programme to reskill and re-evaluate to put underperformers through interventions. Very few people actually fall off after these interventions.”

Unionisation in the IT sector is yet to gain momentum. In 2016, the state labour secretary in Tamil Nadu categorically stated that IT employees were free to form unions under the Industrial Disputes Act.

On whether unionisation would be good for the IT sector, he said, “It is a space we have to watch. If employees feel it is good for them, they will decide on it.”

Emphasising on the need to re-skill, Viswanathan said it was imperative for techies to continuously learn and urgrade thier skills.

Talking about the speed at which dis ruption is taking place, Viswanathan said, “The velocity of change is challenging the industry to deliver in shorter time frames. Today is nobody runs a program for 3 years.When we worked on the Sega project, it took us 2.5 -3 years to deliver. Today , a release is out in 3 weeks.“

With over 2,14,000 of their 3,80,000 strong workforce being digitally trained, Viswanathan says the exercise started much earlier. “In 2015, Chandra said we should have 1,00,000 professionals digitally trained that year and this culture has changed the way we looked at re-skilling.“ The company has rolled out almost 600,000 certifications to date.

In the wake of strong sectoral headwinds and challenges posed by digital, IT companies have been driving efforts to improve utilisation lelvels.

On whether these reskilling efforts are leading to a jump in utilisation rates, Viswanathan said, “There are multiple reasons for increase in utilisation rates.People going through these courses are potentially ninja coders or programmers who have multiple capabilities. Having these skills enables increase in throughput and consequently , utilisation.”

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