TCS layoffs: Fired employees share exit interview clip on Facebook

There are reports that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), one of the biggest private sector employers in India, is planning to lay off between 25,000 to 30,000 employees in the coming month. Now if an audio clip, allegedly recorded during an exit interview, is to be believed, TCS plans to lay off employees who are performing at a level of "C" or below.

The news about the alleged clip was reported by NDTV. For now, it is not clear if the clip is genuine or not. Though it was posted on a Facebook page called "We are against TCS LayOff", which has over 14,000 likes.

We have reached out to TCS and will update the story when we get a statement from the company.

The clip was reportedly recorded by a Chennai-based female employee during an exit interview, where the HR person stopped short of saying that she was an underperformer, but claimed that layoffs were decided on the basis of performance rating, skill set and scalability to the next role.

"We would like to retain our As and Bs... they have done more than the guys who have got a C," says the HR manager in the alleged recording.

On the Facebook Page We are against TCS layoffs, there are comments from many mid-level TCS employees. By the looks of it, these employees with 7-10 years of experience have been asked to leave.

According to an employee who spoke to the News Minute, a news website, the C-Band stands for meets expectations.

"There are five bands during appraisal. C-band means 'meets expectations', and a large number of employees fall under that band. The buzz within employees is that people who have got C Band for more than one year, will be asked to leave," an anonymous employer told the News Minute.