'Had an offer from Amazon, but chose TCS': Tata Consultancy Services delays onboarding

Freshers and other new recruits are accusing India's largest IT services company TCS of delaying their onboarding by up to eight months.

A new recruit at TCS awaiting an offer letter told Business Today, "I had got my offer letter from TCS on April 5 for the post of Assistant System Engineer - Trainee. But even after almost eight months, I'm still waiting for a joining date. They are playing with my future. It's not just me but thousands of freshers like me who are waiting for a joining date."

Many of these job claimants have connected with each other via social media platforms. Business Today got access to one such group on Telegram which had roughly 500 members.

Also Read: Infosys, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra accused by techies for delay in onboarding

Some of them claimed that despite offers from other companies, they chose to work with TCS but were awaiting a joining date for the past several months.

"I had got an offer from Amazon, but I chose to work for TCS because of their employee friendly image, but they have not given me a joining date for the last six months," said a new recruit. 

When the job claimants write to TCS, the company responds saying that the joining dates will be given as per TCS' business requirements.

Also Read: "I have to pay education loan" After Wipro, techies accuse Capgemini of delay in onboarding - BusinessToday

"Your joining letter will be re-issued based on TCS business requirements. We appreciate your patience and thanks for your understanding. We look forward to having you join us in TCS," the company's response to the new recruits reads.

Job claimants also allege that the company is actively hiring at college campuses despite not onboarding a significant chunk of freshers from the previous batch.

"TCS is still hiring freshers from my college and from so many other colleges. I find it a bit ironical because many of us are waiting to join, then why are they adding more people if they have no work," said a new recruit.

Also Read: Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra delay onboarding: ‘Around 30,000 IT professionals impacted,' says NITES President - BusinessToday

Business Today has previously reported that companies including Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Capgemini, Accenture, Mphasis, Mindtree, Deloitte, and others have been delaying the onboarding of freshers. These companies maintain that joining dates will be given to employees based on business requirements.

Some of these companies, like Wipro and Tech Mahindra, have also recalled the offers they made to freshers, but new recruits at TCS are hopeful that the company will keep its promise.

"We have trust in TCS, they will not take back the offer letters like some companies have done due to late onboarding. That is why we are waiting for them to give us a joining date. I only want to work at TCS," a fresher awaiting a joining date at the company told Business Today.

Also Read: Wipro, Infosys, Capgemini: Freshers await offer letters for up to 10 months after selection - BusinessToday

Another job claimant said, "We just want clarity on the joining date, we only want to join TCS. Timeline for joining date is all we are asking for."

Business Today reached out to TCS for a response. The company spokesperson said that all offer letters would be honoured. 
The spokesperson said, "As always, TCS will honour all offers made as part of our campus hiring."

TCS spokesperson also noted that the new recruits would be onboarded in a staggered manner. 

Also Read: Infosys, Wipro, TechM onboarding delay: Former HCL Tech CEO Vineet Nayar says this has happened before - BusinessToday

"It is a normal year for TCS in terms of trainee joining and all our offered trainees are being onboarded in a staggered manner as per our staffing plans, since Q1 FY23," the spokesperson said.