On June 12, 2025, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services company, implemented a revised associate deployment policy that has sparked widespread debate within the industry. The policy mandates that employees must be billable for at least 225 business days annually, effectively capping bench time—the period when employees are not assigned to client projects—at 35 business days per year. This move, outlined by Chandrasekaran Ramkumar, global head of TCS’s Resource Management Group (RMG), aims to enhance workforce utilization and align individual contributions with organizational goals. However, it has raised significant concerns among employees and unions, who describe it as coercive and potentially detrimental to job security and well-being.
In the IT services industry, benching refers to the time when employees remain on the company payroll without active project assignments. Historically, bench time has allowed companies to retain skilled talent during lean periods, enabling employees to upskill or undertake internal tasks. However, extended bench periods can strain company margins and employee morale. TCS’s new policy addresses this by limiting bench time to 35 days, a significant reduction from previous norms of 60–90 days, reflecting a broader industry trend toward leaner operations amid AI-driven disruptions and economic uncertainty.
The policy places the onus on employees to proactively secure project allocations through engagement with the RMG. Unallocated employees are required to dedicate 4–6 hours daily to upskilling via platforms like iEvolve, Fresco Play, and LinkedIn, complete mandatory training, and use TCS’s Gen AI interview coach to stay interview-ready. Additionally, the policy mandates physical office presence, with work-from-office (WFO) exceptions allowed only for personal emergencies and subject to RMG approval. Frequent short-term project allocations are discouraged and may trigger HR investigations, signaling a push for sustained project engagement.
TCS CEO K Krithivasan has defended the policy, describing it as a structured version of existing expectations. “It’s always been expected that associates take responsibility for their careers,” he told Times of India. “While HR facilitates placements, we also expect individuals to actively seek new roles after completing assignments.” The policy aligns with TCS’s goal to minimize idle time, especially as employee costs, which reached Rs 37,715 crore in Q1 2025 (59.45% of revenue), and high attrition rates (13.8%) pressure profit margins.
However, the policy has faced sharp criticism. The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has labeled it “inhumane” and “coercive,” arguing that it institutionalizes a culture of fear. In a letter to Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, NITES president Harpreet Singh Saluja stated, “These are not non-performing employees, but skilled professionals temporarily without allocation due to shifting business priorities or internal inefficiencies.” The union claims employees face pressure to accept roles misaligned with their expertise or preferred locations, with some receiving threats of termination or denial of experience letters if they fail to secure projects within 35 days.
Social media platforms like Reddit have become outlets for employee concerns, with posts highlighting challenges such as mismatched project assignments and difficulties securing roles in preferred locations. One employee wrote, “I was trained in Java, but after a month on the bench, I’m being pressured to join a support project that has nothing to do with Java or Python.” While News18 could not verify these claims, they reflect widespread anxiety, particularly as the first 35-day cycle concluded in July 2025.
Not all reactions oppose the policy. Some employees support it, arguing it targets underperformers who remain on the bench for extended periods, rejecting projects while pursuing personal goals. A Reddit user commented, “This may help TCS trim some seriously underperforming resources, those stuck on TCS like a leech.” Industry experts suggest the policy aligns with a sector-wide shift toward skill-based performance metrics, driven by AI automation and evolving client demands. Nitin Bhatt of EY India noted, “Tech companies must align employee skills with high-demand areas like AI and cybersecurity. Promotions will increasingly depend on skill proficiency rather than tenure.”
With TCS employing over 613,000 people globally and an estimated 15–18% typically on the bench, thousands could be affected. The policy’s strict WFO mandate and 35-day cap may increase stress and attrition, particularly among mid-career professionals. As competitors like Infosys and Wipro adopt similar measures, the IT sector appears to be moving toward a high-pressure, skill-driven model, raising questions about balancing efficiency with employee well-being.
