6,000 Cognizant Employees in India Fear Getting Laid Off

Cognizant is said to be looking at cutting jobs which have become redundant due to automation on lower-end IT jobs.

The company is said to be looking at cutting jobs which have become redundant due to the automation on lower-end IT jobs. (Photo: PTI)

Almost 6,000 people or 2.3 per cent at Information Technology major Cognizant Technology Solutions’ workforce is in fear of a layoff, as the company struggles to survive in an IT world that’s fast moving towards the digital space, as Times of India reports.

The percentage of layoffs is more likely to be over the annual weeding out of the bottom 1 per cent, on the basis of non-performance, determined by the annual appraisal process.

The company is said to be looking at cutting jobs which have become redundant due to the automation on lower-end IT jobs.

The company's workforce number stood at around 2,60,000 as on December 2016 with the majority of them in India. The variable payout for 2016 will also be affected as cited by sources.

"Post appraisals it is normal that the company asks some to leave based on their performance rating. It happens every year. This year it seems this aspect has got media attention and the percentage seems to be inflated," a long-term employee of the company said on the condition anonymity.

"As part of our workforce management strategy, we conduct regular performance reviews to ensure we have the right employee skillsets necessary to meet client needs and achieve our business goals," a Cognizant spokesperson said.

This process results in changes, including some employees transitioning out of the company. Any actions as a result of this process are performance-based and generally consistent with those we’ve made in previous years.

According to him, in any given year, the layoff numbers may bounce a percentage here or there, but this is part of standard practice.

At the same time, we continue to enhance our capabilities and hire for roles across all our practice areas in the company.

In 2015, the layoffs were about 1-2 per cent and in 2015, it was around 1 per cent.

The company faced turbulent times in the previous year with the full-year growth slipping down to 8.6 per cent after several years of strong, double-digit leading growth.

The IT industry is not booming with jobs as several companies are slimming down on staff. Snapdeal laid off nearly 600 people in February. IT giants like Microsoft, Nokia, IBM also reportedly cut down on staff in 2016, post demonetisation.

(With inputs from IANS)