Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Dismisses 16 Employees Implicated in Bribes-for-Jobs Scam and Relieves 3 Employees from Resource Management Roles
In June of this year, an anonymous whistleblower contacted the CEO and COO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to report a ‘bribes-for-jobs’ scandal within the company. The whistleblower alleged that senior executives at TCS were accepting bribes from staffing firms in exchange for providing employment opportunities to their candidates. In response to these allegations, TCS initiated an internal investigation, which has now been concluded. According to reports, TCS has terminated the employment of 16 individuals found to be involved in the scandal. Additionally, three employees from the resource management function have been relieved of their roles.
TCS’s Action Against Employees As reported by Livemint, TCS disclosed in an official filing that 16 employees have been dismissed for violating the company’s code of conduct, and three employees have been removed from their positions within the resource management function. Among the terminated individuals is E.S. Chakravarthy, the former head of TCS’s resource management group. Furthermore, TCS has prohibited six vendor entities, along with their owners and affiliates, from conducting business with the company.
TCS’s statement in the filing read, ‘Our investigation found 19 employees to be involved, and action has been taken against all as detailed here – 16 employees have been separated from the company for code of conduct violations, and three employees have been removed from the resource management function.’ The company also stated, ‘Also, six vendor entities, their owners and affiliates have been debarred from doing any business with TCS. Further, TCS would continue to enhance its governance measures, including a) regular rotation of personnel performing key roles in the resource management function, b) enhanced analytics on supplier management, c) periodic declarations by vendors on compliance with the Tata Code of Conduct and know your supplier process to cover additional declarations, and d) Vendor management process audits.’
TCS CEO K Krithivasan’s Statement A few days prior to this development, TCS CEO K Krithivasan had addressed the media following the announcement of the company’s quarterly results. During the media interaction, Krithivasan confirmed that TCS had taken action against those involved in the scandal and had concluded its investigation. He stated, ‘We have completed our investigation. We have taken appropriate action against whosoever we believe violated our code of conduct. Actions differ based on the kind of violation, but all actions have been taken, and it’s closed.’
TCS’s Return to Office Policy Notably, TCS had recently declared the end of its work-from-home policy and called its employees back to the office, requiring them to work in-office five days a week starting from October 1. TCS Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad explained that working in the office is crucial for instilling ‘TCS values and the TCS way’ in the workforce. Lakkad noted that about 70% of TCS employees had already returned to the office and emphasized the importance of integrating the new workforce with the larger TCS community.
TCS had previously made headlines for postponing the onboarding of fresh recruits who had received offer letters. TCS’s HR chief addressed these reports, assuring that the company would ‘honor’ all the offers it had extended, but the start dates for these individuals might be delayed due to ‘business requirements.
