Outsourcer Tata Consultancy Services has fired 500 of its employees after a performance appraisal showed that they were not meeting expectations.

A company spokesman, Pradipta Bagchi, said that those who could not meet the performance requirements of his company were asked to look for another job commensurate with their abilities. Tata has a high attrition rate of 12.2 percent, but is one of the lowest in an industry plagued by high employee turnover.

Bagchi claimed the latest move was not unusual and it is part of our annual performance exercise. Last month, the Mumbai-based company cut a variable component of the pay package that was linked to its performance, for the first time in two years.

Last week, IBM fired 700 entry-level trainee programmers across India based on their performance in aptitude tests.