In a dramatic move that might affect thousands of employees, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has implemented a more revised bench policy where the maximum number of unallocated working days has been capped at 35 a year.
Many in the industry perceive the move as a strategic move towards enhancing the utilisation of the workforce under the influence of changing market dynamics.
As reported by The Economic Times, the new policy, which will take effect on June 12, states all associates must now be put in billable projects for at least 225 business days annually. The other 35 days, otherwise known as bench time, should be spent on internal training and project redeployment work. Being unable to comply with these requirements could lead to low remuneration, less advancement in a career and even expulsion in some instances from the organisation.
TCS has also forced the workers who are on the bench to report to the workplace, thus foregoing the opportunity to work at home during this time. The associates are also to be proactive in upskilling using available internal channels like iEvolve, Fresco Play, and LinkedIn Learning with a focus on spending four to six hours per day on these modules.
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To a great extent, associates have been given the responsibility of identifying project allocations. Although the Resource Management Group (RMG) still plays the role of making redeployments, it is now an expectation that the business units and internal staffing channels will be in constant contact with the associates.
The policy, which is an element of what the company calls its wider workforce optimisation programme, comes at a period when the demand for IT services in the world has been on the up and down. This move by industry analysts sees it as a counter to pressure on margins highlighted by the need to operate leaner.
Although the company is yet to release any statement concerning the laying-off process, a number of staff members have also been worried about what exactly the new policy is saying. There is a concern that it can cause more pressure to accept positions they do not know much about, or they may be put under the unofficial performance review.
This 35-day benchmark fits into an analogous trend that most large Indian IT companies have implemented in the last couple of years, which shows that this is an industry-wide movement to rein in bench management. With the IT sector steadily transforming, these shifts indicate a replacement of the customary diversity in staffing with a performance-based arrangement.
TCS is yet to publicly respond to employee anxieties over the policy. But internal messages released by this publication repeat the necessity of the proper allocation of time, the development of skills and presence in the office as the vital aspects of this new concept.
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