The country's largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), in its updated talent deployment policy, has limited bench period to 35 days for its employees and also mandates that a minimum of 225 business days annually be billed. This means the productivity expectations are increasing and that the company wants to fully utilise its existing bench strength.
In IT firms, new recruits who are undergoing training or employees between projects apart from those who are undergoing performance evaluation are 'benched'. Those on the bench are usually given training programmes and they need to wait for new projects.
According to an internal company email, "At any given point in time, associates must have been allocated for a minimum period of 225 business days in the last 12 months, failing which necessary due diligence and appropriate management action will be exercised." This updated policy has come into effect from June 12.
Do such stricter deployment rules lead to increased pressure and burnout among tech workers? Aditya Narayan Mishra, MD & CEO of CIEL HR said the focus should be on optimising project allocation rather than creating pressure. "Smart workforce planning involves understanding individual strengths, providing adequate training for new technologies and ensuring realistic project timelines. The idea of a cap is to set higher execution rigor internally while communicating clearly to employees about the seriousness of bench utilisation. This sets the tone for younger employees about learning agility and sends a clear message to underperforming employees to shape up rapidly and there's no space for mediocrity in today's competitive landscape," he said.
The mail read, “Associates are expected to keep their skills relevant to organisational needs. All new joiners are expected to have an allocation from day-one of joining the organisation.”
Mishra pointed out that such an approach accelerates learning for freshers by ensuring consistent engagement on live projects rather than waiting on the bench. “For professionals transitioning between roles, continuous engagement encourages faster upskilling and practical application of new technologies. Learning agility must be high — employees should continuously acquire new skills, demonstrate strong performance and strive for excellence,” he added.
According to HR experts, considering the present macro-economic uncertainty and slowing down of clients’ spending, IT firms will come up with such deployment rules to ensure more sophisticated resource management.