Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s top IT outsourcing firm, has landed in hot water in the United States, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) launching an investigation into claims of discrimination.
At the heart of the controversy? A growing chorus of former American employees accusing the tech giant of unfairly pushing out older, non-South Asian workers while keeping younger Indian colleagues, some of whom were on H-1B visas.
These allegations, which began surfacing in late 2023, paint a picture of a biased layoff process. The complainants—mostly professionals over 40 and from diverse ethnic backgrounds—say they were shown the door while Indian staff were spared, a move they believe points to systemic bias rooted in age, race, and national origin.
TCS, however, isn’t backing down. A company spokesperson brushed off the claims, labeling them “meritless and misleading,” and insisted the company operates with integrity and a strong commitment to equal opportunity in the U.S. job market.
Although the EEOC has stayed mum—citing confidentiality laws—Bloomberg reportedly reviewed over two dozen of the complaints. The probe originally kicked off during Joe Biden’s administration and has carried over into the current Trump presidency.
This isn’t the first time the outsourcing industry has faced such scrutiny. In 2020, Cognizant Technology Solutions, another India-based IT heavyweight, was investigated for similar practices. Just this year, a U.S. federal jury concluded that Cognizant had discriminated against more than 2,000 non-Indian employees over nearly a decade. The company denies wrongdoing and is currently appealing the ruling.
TCS has also encountered parallel issues abroad. In the UK, three former employees alleged age and nationality-based discrimination during a 2023 round of layoffs. TCS, again, denied those claims before a British tribunal.
As the EEOC continues its investigation, the case has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate about fair labor practices in the global tech industry—especially when it comes to companies navigating the intersection of international hiring and domestic worker protections.
