TCS lays off U.K. Staff; Infy, Wipro to cut onsite staff

Bangalore: The credit crunch does not cease to take toll on jobs. As customers tighten IT budgets and demand more projects be executed offshore for cost saving, India's tech firms like TCS, Wipro and Infosys are cutting back their onsite staff anywhere between 5-10 percent, reports The Economic Times (ET).

TCS has already asked several employees in its U.K. office to leave, as the firm prepares to move more delivery functions to offshore locations like India. "TCS just laid off most of their marketing team in London, plus a number of professionals in the consulting division. It seems the target is high-end consultants who cost a lot to keep on the bench, and marketing," said a U.K. based expert. Though the exact number of those being laid off could not ascertain, a source said the number of those impacted could be above 100.

A TCS spokesperson confirmed the layoffs to ET. "To stay competitive and drive internal efficiency in a difficult operating environment, TCS U.K. has decided to optimize its operations. This has resulted in some involuntary attrition affecting fewer than one percent of our U.K. workforce," said a TCS spokesperson.

TCS serves customers such as British Airways, BT and United Utilities in the U.K.. The company has around 4,800 professionals working at almost 65 customer sites in U.K. and Ireland.

"An onsite resource is thrice as costlier as an offshore professional, so there is an obvious push to move more roles to cheaper locations," said a senior executive at a top Indian tech firm on the request of anonymity. Meanwhile customers such as Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have been pushing more work offshore, and are asking their vendors including Infosys to bring down the cost of delivering projects.