Indian technology giant Tata Consultancy Services has decided to lay off around 2 percent of its total workforce impacting the jobs of around 12000 employees. According to a Moneycontrol report quoting government sources the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is reportedly keeping a close eye on the developments surrounding this big decision. In the coming future the government expects the industry and academia to address issues related to skilling and re-skilling. The report further states that approximately 12000 employees—about 2 percent of TCSs total workforce—were laid off on July 27 as part of the company’s efforts to become more agile and future-ready. Industry and academia will also have to address skilling and re-skilling related issues. We are keeping a close eye on all of this the source told Moneycontrol. TCS CEO Krithivasan on Layoffs In an exclusive interview to Moneycontrol the TCS CEO Krithivasan said that the move by the company is not a reaction to AI adoption but a step toward future-proofing workforce skills. No this is not because of AI giving some 20 percent productivity gains. We are not doing that. This is driven by where there is a skill mismatch or where we think that we have not been able to deploy someone Krithivasan also told Moneycontrol This decision will majorly impact some of the entry level associates who have been on the bench for a long time along with middle and senior level employees for the most apart. Employment Linked Incentive Scheme Additionally the Union Cabinet approved a Rs 99446 crore Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme on July 1. This aims to accelerate job creation with a special emphasis on manufacturing and also seeks to create over 3.5 crore new jobs over a period of two-years. Under this initiative first-time workers can receive a one-time wage support of up to Rs. 15000 and employers will be rewarded for job creation over the next two years.