Doom story on IT layoffs has a hopeful subtext | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times

This article explores how India's IT industry is navigating current layoffs and transformation challenges, written by a financial journalist examining the sector's resilience through historical context.

Despite widespread media coverage of IT layoffs affecting major companies like TCS and Infosys, global investment firms including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs maintain positive ratings on these stocks. The article traces India's IT evolution from FC Kohli's pioneering work at TCS in 1969 through multiple industry crises, showing how each challenge strengthened the sector rather than destroying it. Current layoffs represent just 2-3% of the workforce and reflect technological evolution rather than decline, as companies shift from legacy maintenance to AI, cloud computing, and digital services.

• The 42,000 layoffs across India's top 4 IT companies represent only a small fraction of the industry's 6 million workforce
• Historical crises like Y2K, dot-com crash, and 2008 financial crisis actually accelerated Indian IT growth by forcing innovation and market expansion
• Major IT companies are investing billions in retraining employees for emerging technologies while foreign institutional investors increased IT stakes by 12% in Q2 2025
• Smart money recognizes this as industry transformation rather than decline, with companies like TCS and Infosys successfully repositioning for the AI and cloud era