Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), one of India’s largest IT services companies and a crown jewel of the Tata Group, is under investigation by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over allegations of workplace discrimination against American employees.
The allegations, first reported by Bloomberg, have been levelled by former TCS employees in the US, largely of non-South Asian descent and over the age of 40, who claim they were disproportionately targeted during the layoffs that began in 2023.
According to the report, their Indian colleagues, including many on H-1B skilled worker visas, were spared.
The company has strongly denied the accusations, labelling them “meritless and misleading”.
“Allegations that TCS engages in unlawful discrimination are meritless and misleading,” a TCS spokesperson was quoted as saying. “TCS has a strong track record of being an equal opportunity employer in the US, embracing the highest levels of integrity and values in our operations.”
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the American workplace, has maintained silence due to federal confidentiality protocols.
“Complaints, or charges, made to the EEOC are confidential under federal law,” a spokesperson told Bloomberg.
The complaints have drawn political attention.
In an April 2024 letter that had not been previously reported, US Representative Seth Moulton, (Democrat, Massachusetts) urged the EEOC to consider opening an official investigation.
“TCS’s actions may have constituted a pattern or practice of discrimination impacting Americans that falls within the EEOC’s jurisdiction,” Moulton wrote. “Additionally, it may also have been a potential misuse of US work visa programs designed to fill US labour shortfalls,” Bloomberg reported.
A similar controversy has taken root in the UK.
According to The Guardian, three former TCS employees in the UK filed complaints before an employment tribunal in 2023, alleging discrimination based on age and nationality as part of a redundancy programme.
TCS has also been accused of leveraging the L-1A visa category reserved for managers to sidestep the more regulated H-1B visa process. The company has denied these allegations as well.
Fuel was added to the fire earlier this year when Andrea R. Lucas, appointed acting EEOC chair in the Donald Trump administration, announced her intent to intensify probes into hiring biases.
“Unlawful bias against American workers is a major problem nationwide, with many employers preferring those on visas and other foreigners over American workers,” she said in a February 2024 statement.
The developments come at a sensitive time for TCS. In India, the company is battling mounting internal dissatisfaction, particularly around employee compensation.
The IT major recently delayed salary hikes amid global market uncertainties and US tariff pressures.
Its consolidated net profit for Q4 dipped nearly 2 per cent year-on-year to ₹12,293 crore, down from ₹12,502 crore in the same quarter last year. Attrition rose to 13.3 per cent from 13 per cent.
One TCS employee from Kolkata took to LinkedIn to vent: “TCS has been one of the most ridiculous companies nowadays. The company is torturing employees with almost zero hike, no promotions, no job satisfaction, nothing. Every time we see huge & huge revenue in every quarter, but we get ZERO in return as an employee though we also contribute to that profit somehow.”
He didn’t stop there.
“We earn bread & butter for our family but does TCS actually think of it?... These leaders are making us fools, they themselves are taking every benefit but do not even bother to think of employees like us... Market price, cost of living is getting higher & higher, but we get a hike of 3-4% even after getting a good banding.”
He concluded his post by tagging senior TCS leadership.
