TCS accused of firing senior manager without severance after project fail

A Reddit user has alleged that a manager with more than 14 years’ experience at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was compelled to resign immediately—without severance—after being labelled a “non-billable resource” on a key modernisation project. The details, first reported by Financial Express on 25 August 2025, come amid TCS’s wider cost-cutting measures, including the dismissal of about 12,000 staff globally (roughly 2 per cent of its workforce).

Posting under the username “This_Hedgehog_4115” in the Reddit community r/IndianWorkplace, the user described how the manager and his team were tasked with modernising 15 IBM-based applications for a US client—applications deemed “deprecated and unsupported” by the client, and so outdated that the only viable path was a full rewrite.

The post explained, “The systems were tightly coupled, outdated, and impossible to deploy on modern infrastructure,” a fact allegedly known by management.

Despite recognising the scale of the challenge, management reportedly expanded the team to ten people overnight and demanded completion of the modernisation within a month. As it was an outcome-based project, TCS would only be paid upon full delivery. 

“Overnight, the team was expanded to 10 people and told to modernise 15 applications within a month — a completely unrealistic goal,” the Reddit user said. However, after four months of intensive effort, they concluded that “not a single application could be modernised without a full rebuild.”

TCS is alleged to have then terminated the manager on grounds of “poor performance” and “inability to deliver”. He was labelled a “non-billable resource” because the project failed to generate billing, was made to resign immediately, and received no severance pay—even though, according to the post, TCS ordinarily requires a three-month notice period for resignations. 

The manager, described as married with two daughters, was portrayed in the post as a “loyal” employee—making the lack of support “unfair, unethical, and heartbreaking”.

The same Financial Express article notes that the report was based solely on that Reddit post, adding a disclaimer: “The details, opinions, and statements quoted herein belong solely to the original poster and do not reflect the views of Financialexpress.com. We have not independently verified the claims.” 

This post surfaces amid broader unrest at TCS. In July, The Economic Times reported that TCS’s newly instituted bench policy—effective 12 June 2025—limits employees to just 35 days per year without client assignment. Those failing to secure a project within that period could face career stagnation or termination.

In addition, The News Minute reported recent allegations of forced resignations under duress in Bengaluru, where employees say they were threatened with termination without pay or relieving letters if they refused to resign—and that HR used coercive tactics, including blacklisting, or were told to switch off mobile phones during forced resignation meetings. The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) has filed an industrial dispute, arguing that this circumvents the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and demands criminal proceedings against TCS officials.