TCS, Infosys halt trips to Middle East as Dubai Airport closes down, employees advised to exercise caution

Leading Indian IT companies, including TCS and Infosys, have asked their employees to be careful and issued travel warnings due to rising tensions in the Middle East after the US and Israel attacked Iran over the weekend and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

TCS and Infosys have multiple offices in the Middle East, which was hit over the weekend by the war in Iran as Tehran launched missiles at key Middle East locations like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

TCS has issued advisory information

In an internal advisory issued to employees, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has asked its employees to avoid going out and non-essential travel.

“In light of the ongoing geopolitical developments in the Middle East, all our employees are advised to stay at home, avoid non-essential travel and strictly comply with the instructions issued by local authorities,” the internal document accessed by Livemint said.

The company has also suspended travel to and from the Middle East for all employees and partners.

According to the advisor, “TCS has suspended all travel to and from the Middle East region, including transit, as airspace between many countries remains closed.”

According to its website, TCS has approximately 9,000 employees in the Middle East and Africa region. The company said its leadership teams are connected to these employees.

“HR and country leadership teams are actively engaging with our employees and their families in different regions and closely monitoring their safety and well-being. A call tree has been activated and employees in affected and border regions are being contacted on a priority basis,” he said.

TCS also coordinates with Indian Embassies and local authorities in these countries.

“We are also working closely with local authorities and Indian Embassies to monitor developments and will continue to provide timely updates as the situation evolves. The safety and well-being of our business partners and their families remains our top priority,” the statement said.

Infosys warns employees

According to The Economic Times, the Indian software service giant, which has significant operations in the Middle East, also issued a similar recommendation.

He noted significant disruptions due to restricted airspace and flight cancellations by various airlines.

“The safety and well-being of our employees remains our top priority. We are monitoring the situation closely and will share further updates as necessary,” Infosys said in an internal communication.

The company told its employees that they would be traveling within the next 48 hours, to obtain information from airline companies about their travel schedules and to postpone their travels if possible. He advised employees stuck in transit to remain calm and follow airline instructions.

At the time of writing this article, a query to Infosys remained unanswered. Will update if Livemint receives official confirmation.

Flight tracking site FlightAware said more than 2,700 flights had been canceled worldwide and more than 12,300 were delayed as of 17:20 GMT on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a report published in News18 stated that senior executives of other major IT companies such as Infosys and HCLTech were stranded at Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports.