Tech Firms Must Reskill Workers Before Layoffs, IT Body Says
As AI spending rises, India’s IT employee body suggests companies and policymakers put worker protections ahead of layoffs.
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India’s IT employee body NITES has urged tech firms to favor reskilling over layoffs as AI adoption gathers pace, with its president Harpreet Singh Saluja suggesting that job cuts should remain a last resort.
Saluja said in an interview with the Press Trust of India that companies investing heavily in AI should also commit resources to retraining their existing workforce rather than treating layoffs as the first response to technological change.
He also called for immediate policy intervention to strengthen safeguards for private-sector white-collar workers, including mandatory notice periods, fair severance norms and greater employer accountability during workforce reductions.
NITES plans to push for policy-level changes to protect employees from what it described as unfair layoffs and forced mass resignations, Saluja said, adding that the group has already raised concerns with government authorities over alleged layoffs, forced exits and the lack of due process in parts of the technology sector.
The appeal comes as restructuring linked to AI investment spreads across the technology sector.
Reuters reported on March 31 that Oracle had begun layoffs affecting thousands of employees, while Oracle itself confirmed only 491 cuts in Washington state through a WARN filing, a legally required layoff notice, and declined to comment on the broader number.
Reuters also reported in March that Meta was planning layoffs that could affect 20% or more of its workforce as AI infrastructure costs climbed, though a later Reuters report said the company had so far carried out a smaller round affecting hundreds.
Atlassian, meanwhile, said it would cut about 1,600 jobs, or roughly 10% of staff, in a push deeper into AI and enterprise sales.
Last year, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd said it would cut more than 12,000 jobs, or about 2% of its workforce, in a move Reuters said could herald broader AI-led disruption in India’s $283 billion outsourcing sector.
In a recent report, Goldman Sachs Research estimated that 300 million jobs globally are exposed to being automated by AI. But the technology will also generate, and is already generating, new employment, it said.
