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AI Boom Triggers Mass Job Cuts In Indian Tech Sector
India’s biggest tech firms are performing mass layoffs as AI transforms the IT sector, endangering both white-collar positions and middle-class financial stability throughout the nation.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- TCS to cut 12,000 middle and senior management jobs due to AI.
- AI is automating tasks once done by India’s massive IT workforce.
- Companies now hire fewer workers while prioritizing efficiency and automation.
India’s IT sector is facing major changes, with thousands of jobs at risk due to the rise of artificial intelligence..
BBC reports that the Indian IT services leader, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), announced plans to eliminate 12,000 middle and senior management positions, which represent 2% of its total workforce.
TCS says the move is to make the company “future ready” while it invests in artificial intelligence and adjusts to the fast-evolving technology environment. BBC notes that for decades, companies like TCS have relied on skilled workers to deliver affordable software solutions to worldwide clients.
But now, AI is automating many of those tasks, shifting demand toward innovation instead of manpower.
“A number of re-skilling and redeployment initiatives have been under way,” TCS said, adding it will be “releasing associates from the organisation whose deployment may not be feasible,” as reported by the BBC.
According to Neeti Sharma of staffing firm TeamLease Digital, “Across IT companies, people managers are being let go while the doers are being kept to rationalise the workforce and bring in efficiencies,” reports the BBC.
She adds that while hiring in AI and cloud tech is rising, “it is not at the same intensity at which people are being fired.”
Experts say there’s a sharp “skills mismatch” in the industry. “This technology shift is forcing businesses to reassess their workforce structure,” said the economist Rishi Shah, as reported by the BBC.
India needs a million AI professionals by 2026, yet fewer than 20% of current IT workers are AI-trained. The growing number of layoffs in cities such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad creates concerns about the potential decline of India’s middle class, which depends on IT employment.
BBC reports that Arindam Paul, founder of Atomberg, warned: “Almost 40–50% white collar jobs that exist today might cease to exist.”