No project? No pay hike from now on! TCS mandates new deployment policy for employees

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has rolled out a revised associate deployment policy mandating a minimum of 225 business days of billing annually with a reduced bench time of 35 days per year.

TCS introduces new deployment policy

The new policy is pushing employees to proactively seek assignments or risk career repercussions.

“At any given point in time, associates must be allocated for a minimum period of 225 business days in the last 12 months,” as reported by the Times of India, citing official policy documents from TCS.

The report also mentioned that TCS's Global Head, Chandrasekaran Ramkumar, introduced the new policy, which became effective on 12 June 2025.

Associates who remain unallocated beyond the specified limit may face adverse impacts on compensation, promotions, overseas postings, and even the continuity of employment.

The onus is now squarely on the employees, with TCS's new policy indicating that it’s the associate’s primary responsibility to be proactive and engage with regional RMG and pursue suitable opportunities.

The associates without active project allocations have to compulsorily spend four to six hours daily on learning platforms such as iEvolve, VLS, and Fresco Play, complete all training modules, and use tools like the Gen AI interview coach to remain deployment-ready.

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Projects on very first day

The tech giant specified that new employees should be assigned to projects on their first day. Freshers have been urged to reach out to RMG in case they have no assigned projects.

As per another NDTV Profit report, the company has pointed out that associates frequently bouncing between different short-term projects is a concern. If it happens frequently, HR might step in to investigate the matter, which could lead to serious consequences.

The new policy states that working from the office is the standard. Remote work or flexibility will only be allowed in special situations of personal emergencies, and will need to be approved by RMG beforehand.

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