Investor Basant Maheshwari has reacted to layoffs at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services company. In a harsh take on X (erstwhile Twitter), he said that the 12,000 employees who would be laid off in FY 2025-26 as the TCS restructures its workforce, would now have ample time to post about religious issues like “Mandir and Masjid”.
‘Now tweet on Mandir and Masjid’
“The 12,000 TCS employees will have enough time now to tweet on Mandir and Masjid,” he wrote on X, taking a jibe at what he sees as misplaced priorities.
Since many on the Internet talk about issues related to “Mandir and Masjid”, they, as per him, have “got what they wanted”. This means that TCS layoffs are self-inflicted.
“That’s what the middle class wanted and that’s what they have got,” he added.
‘Where are we heading? Ayodhya!’
And he just didn’t stop here; he replied to the comments below his post in a similar way.
“Where are we heading?” asked one social media user. To this, he responded, “Ayodhya.” For reference, there were “Mandir wahin banaenge” calls after the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992.
Another slammed him: “Are you really mocking the middle class? Shame on you for feeling so smug and rejoicing. Pathetic.”
One gave it back to him, saying, “You mean enough time like you?”
“Coming from someone whose stock tips have left more people jobless than TCS ever could, this is rich. But sure, when the market dips, blame the middle class for tweeting about Mandir-Masjid instead of your investment advice,” read another Internet user’s comment dipped in sarcasm.
“Pathetic comment,” said yet another person.
“You have downgraded yourself to such a low level that you are also tweeting about Mandir & Masjid only to get some attention,” yet another said.
TCS layoffs 2025
TCS is planning to reduce 2 per cent of its global workforce, which means around 12,000 people will be jobless before this financial year ends. The job cuts will impact the employees who have been serving in senior and mid-level positions.
The company has also rubbished the rumours that the layoffs are because of AI, adding that those who have a “skill mismatch” will be impacted.
“This is not because of AI giving some 20% productivity gains. We are not doing that. This is driven by where there is a skill mismatch or where we think we have not been able to deploy someone,” TCS CEO and MD K Krithivasan was quoted by Moneycontrol as saying.
The layoffs come hot on the heels of a Redditor ringing the alarm bells after TCS changed its bench policy. According to the policy, the employees must maintain a minimum of 225 billable days in a year and spend no more than 35 days on the bench. This means they should work on client projects, and the number of days they sit idle must not exceed 35.
“They are removing all the people who have been on the bench for more than 2 months. First, they are allocating an HR person to each employee to meet in person…. Those employees are asked to resign immediately, and they will get around 3 months’ salary in severance pay. If they don’t oblige, they will get terminated by TCS and won’t be eligible for the severance pay,” a Moneycontrol report mentions one of the affected employees as saying.