Nifty23,518.5064.71

Cognizant Layoffs

IT companies Cognizant, Capgemini hired 1.5 lakh less hands in 2023

Global hiring decline in 2023 impacted major IT companies like Cognizant and Capgemini. Indian IT firms also faced headcount reductions. Everest Group attributed layoffs to Covid over-hiring, while Gen AI influenced hiring decisions.

Why Cognizant’s Rs 2.5 LPA offer is causing a social media stir

Cognizant's off-campus placement drive, offering a ₹2.5 LPA salary to fresh graduates, has sparked online criticism, highlighting stagnant entry-level wages since 2002. This comes at a time when the disparity between CEO and employee pay is growing in the IT sector, with CEO compensations soaring. The widening gap is raising concerns about fairness in compensation, especially in a job market facing layoffs and AI-driven changes. Social media reactions reflect the growing discontent among the public.

2023 Year in review: how layoffs hit technology and startup workers

With the year drawing to a close, ETtech looks at startups and tech companies— global and domestic—which laid off employees to cut costs amid economic uncertainties.

Cognizant Q1 net profit up 3% YoY; to lay off 3,500 employees over two years

Cognizant also announced a two-year rejig aimed at simplifying the operating model and rationalising office spaces to the tune of $400 million. The company is set to lay off around 3,500 employees or 1% of its total workforce.

Cognizant to lay off around 3,500 employees as part of rejig programme

Layoffs at Cognizant follow that of Accenture, which in April announced that 19,000 employees would be let go globally.

ETtech Interview | No big-bang rejig; will rationalise costs and reinvest: Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S

Ravi Kumar S, who quit Infosys to take charge of the US firm in January 2023, says while large-scale reorganisation is not required, the company will let go of 1% of its staff and rationalise office space. This (employee impact) will be across corporate functions, overheads who are non-billable workforce, he said.

Cognizant wins digital transformation deal from Volkswagen Ireland

This is intended to improve reporting, advance business decisions, and drive next best actions to provide a personalized experience to customers and recommend next steps, services or products.

Layoffs in 2023: Microsoft, Cognizant, Accenture among latest firms to cut jobs amid economic turmoil

The layoff wave has swept not only startups and mid-sized firms, but also big tech companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google parent Alphabet, among others.

Layoffs spread to Dunzo, ShareChat, Rebel Foods, and agritech firms

The latest developments are an extension of what has transpired in the so-called new economy over the last six to eight months. Layoffs at tech startups are expected to continue until the end of quarter, after which the situation could improve, industry experts said.

RBI bars Paytm’s services; Wipro to cut hundreds of jobs

In a big blow for the Vijay Shekhar Sharma founded fintech, the Reserve Bank of India has barred Paytm Payments Bank from offering all banking services after February 29. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

Cognizant board bound to notice underperformance, execution challenges: Wedbush

Report speculative, Board fully supports strategic direction, management team: Cognizant

Exclusive: Delhivery CEO Sahil Barua on daring IPO; Cognizant to go fully hybrid by early 2023

One company has chosen to plough ahead despite the less-than-ideal conditions. We spoke to Sahil Barua, founder and CEO of Delhivery, in an exclusive interview to find out why.

Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar on earnings, company’s vision & ChatGPT; Visa launches CVV-free online transactions

Ravi Kumar S, who took over as the chief of US-headquartered IT firm Cognizant four months ago, has termed the last quarter “historic” amid a cautious macro environment.

Byju’s term loan gets more expensive; MPL lays off 350 post GST hit

Byju's quest to settle the $1.2 billion TLB feud might come at a steeper price. The embattled edtech firm might have to pony up an additional $50-60 million to service the increased interest rate it has offered to conclude the revised terms for the deal. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Prosus-owned developer platform Stack Overflow lays off 10% of workforce

Stack Overflow, a question and answer website for programmers, has laid off 10 per cent of its workforce, or 58 employees, amid global macroeconomic pressures and focus on profitability.

Zomato posts maiden quarterly profit; Data Bill introduced in Lok Sabha

Gurugram-based food delivery platform Zomato reported its first-ever profit in the April-June quarter of FY24, reversing losses of Rs 186 crore from the year-ago period. Striking an upbeat note following the results, the company’s management said it expects profitability to sustain going forward. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

Accenture Q3 net income up 12.6%, narrows guidance for FY23

The Dublin-based company's revenue beat street estimates as it posted a revenue of $16.56 billion, up 3% year-on-year, for the fiscal third quarter. It though narrowed its revenue guidance for the ongoing fiscal year to a narrower range of 8-9% from 8-10% earlier due to a lower-than-expected small-size deal wins. The company follows a September-August financial year.

Cognizant to focus on large deals, employee retention to trigger growth: India MD

The New Jersey-headquartered firm will be more employee centric, strengthen on winning larger deals and better operational metrics in order to “accelerate growth”, according to Rajesh Nambiar, MD and Chairman of Cognizant India.

Explained: ONDC vs Zomato-Swiggy; Fresh round of layoffs at LinkedIn

The government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is being seen as a serious threat to food-delivery majors Zomato and Swiggy. We’ll explain today what it means for the food-delivery space.

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn fires 716 employees in fresh round of layoffs

The employment-focused professional network had also announced layoffs in February this year.

Cognizant Q1 net profit up 3%, to lay off 3,500; Ready to tie up with NPCI: Visa’s Alfred Kelly

Cognizant’s net profit increased 3% in the first quarter to $580 million on lower administration costs and a bump in other income. It will let go of 3,500 people over the next two years.

IBM cuts 3,900 jobs, misses annual cash target

Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh told Reuters that the company was still "committed to hiring for client-facing research and development". The layoffs - related to the spinoff of its Kyndryl business and a part of AI unit Watson Health - will cause a $300 million charge in the January-March period, IBM said.

Wary IT companies may halve hiring of engineers from April: Experts

Staffing firm TeamLease expects a 40% drop in FY24 headcount addition vis a vis FY23 addition, based on the current outlook from companies.

Accenture offers 7-month severance payout to staff

Accenture is offering a seven-month severance payout to employees impacted by its latest layoffs. The package is high considering most companies offer a two-three months’ payout, or one month of salary for every year of service put in.

Over 3,000 US employees file class action suit against Cognizant

This is a fallout of Cognizant’s announcement in October that about 6,000 of its employees in the content moderation business for Facebook may be asked to go. The company had then said it would exit this business, and would try to find new homes for the employees involved.

Why is Cognizant cutting 12,000 jobs?

The human dimension of India’s IT woes

Many of those laid off were mid- or upper-level techies, with low lateral skills for other industries.

Cognizant to let go of 350 senior hands earning Rs 80 lakh-1.2 crore to bring down costs

Most of these employees are based out of India. The list has been submitted to chief executive officer Brian Humphries’ office, the people said. They are part of the 10,000-12,000 mid-to-senior level positions globally that the company said in October it would remove from their current roles in the coming quarters, the people said.

IT professionals crowd the job street

Recruitment firms have received at least a few tens of thousands of queries for entry to senior levels in IT services space. Xpheno, a specialist staffing firm, has seen almost 40% spike in CVs from senior tech professionals from IT services companies over the last fortnight.

Flipkart takes on Urban Company; drivers ditch Ola, Uber in droves

But now the company faces fierce, well-funded competition in the form of Flipkart, which plans to roll out similar services in the coming months.

Cognizant may go for job cuts after slashing growth target

The Teaneck, New Jersey-headquartered firm has been cutting jobs for the last two years.

Big hikes for Cognizant brass

The compensation increases have come at a time when the company said it was laying off as many as 200 senior executives.

Indian IT employees stare at a mid-life crisis

The axe will fall mainly on midlevel employees and those who haven’t picked up relevant skills.

The ghost of crypto past is back to haunt bitcoin

Amid a funding crunch globally, frugality and unit economics are the new buzzwords among startups as they focus more on cutting costs and making a profit. Investors, founders and recruiters we spoke to said there will be cost-cutting drives across startups amid increased investor scrutiny of money-guzzling business models.

CITU condemns mass retrenchment of IT employees

"All these IT multinational companies have been earning huge profits and there is no reason to retrench employees. The firing operations are being taken up on the pretexts of ‘growth plans', ‘restructuring', ‘role rationalisation' etc, which are nothing but measures to maximise their profits at the cost of employees," CITU said in a statement.

Middle is where Cognizant's job cuts will hurt the most

Cognizant said its headcount growth had outstripped revenue growth in the past two quarters.

Cognizant fires 200 senior executives

Last year, Cognizant had offered nearly 400 employees a voluntary retirement scheme but this year's move by the company to cut senior level jobs is involuntary.

Reskill to survive: Tech firms retrain staff on war footing

Accenture, Infy, TechM, Cognizant, MphasiS investing to make workforce future-ready.

Cognizant refutes layoff reports

Cognizant president Rajeev Mehta has clarified that the company has not done any layoffs. This clarification has come after several reports that the company has decided to fire more than 6,000 employees as part of its regular appraisal cycle this year.Cognizant refutes layoff reports

Cognizant refutes layoff reports

Chennai labour commissioner takes stocks of Cognizant layoffs

The Chennai labour commissioner has taken stock of the big layoffs in Cognizant. The Forum for IT Employees (FITE) had filed a petition before the labour department in Hyderabad and Chennai challenging the layoffs in the IT major.Chennai labour commissioner takes stocks of Cognizant layoffs

Telangana labour department calls Cognizant to discuss layoffs

Cognizant spokesperson said: “Cognizant has not conducted any layoffs. Each year, as is the best practice across our industry, we conduct performance reviews.

Watch: Big layoffs in Indian IT sector

Large IT services companies are all in the process of laying off employees on a scale not seen since the 2008-10 downturn. Those taking the hit first are mid and senior level professionals, those with 10 to 20 years of experience, but the expectation is that lower level employees too will be hurt later in the year, as growth in the $150-billion industry slows far more than anticipated and companies move towards hiring more in the US. The situation is worsening to a point where affected employees are beginning to approach labour unions to take up their cause.Watch: Big layoffs in Indian IT sector

Cognizant layoffs: Telangana labour dept meets management, employees

Telangana labour department today held a meeting with Cognizant management and representatives of employees of the US-based IT firm over the reported layoffs.Cognizant layoffs: Telangana labour dept meets management, employees

Cognizant layoffs: Telangana labour dept meets management, employees

Telangana labour department today held a meeting with Cognizant management and representatives of employees over the reported layoffs.Cognizant layoffs: Telangana labour dept meets management, employees

ET Top Recruiters Survey: Cognizant back on top with most hires from B-schools

The ET Top Recruiters Survey found that 10 of India’s biggest recruiters hired a total of 1,175 MBA students from 26 leading B-schools in 2017.

Layoff season: IT staff head to school to stay in the reckoning

“The growing realisation among Indian workforce that reskilling is the only way to stay competitive led to a 37% increase in registrations during the February-April period compared to last year," said Raghav Gupta, India country director, Coursera.

Layoffs in IT companies: Is it time for trade unions to come into play?

Those in support of laid-off workers say the firing policies based on performance reviews are often discriminatory.

Cognizant President Rajeev Mehta writes to employees, assuages layoff concerns

Reports suggest that over 6,000 employees in India have lost jobs even as the company has put in place a voluntary separation programme for mid to senior execs.

IT employees get nod to set up trade union in Karnataka

The nod to set up India's first dedicated IT employee union is a significant moment, the first big breakthrough for techies grappling with prospects of job loss.

IT layoff numbers are exaggerated, says top TCS executive Ravi Viswanathan

Defending the industry as a whole, Viswanathan said that early estimates from Nasscom indicate that the IT industry will be net hirers as the year ends.

Layoff number exaggerated, IT industry is a net hirer of people: Nasscom

There is a gentle deceleration in net new hiring growth rate and the emphasis is shifting from scale to skills, said Nasscom.

After Cognizant, other IT biggies like Wipro and Infosys also prepare for layoffs

Those taking the hit first are mid- and senior-level professionals. But lower level employees, too, will be hurt later in the year due to sluggish growth.

Not pessimistic on IT jobs, startups should help: Urjit Patel

While there could be pressure on employment in some of the IT sectors, it is not necessarily in terms of literally a job destruction, said Urjit Patel.

Techie, and worried about layoffs? These 20 skills can help you stay relevant

Jobs replaced by automation do not go for good. You can beat the gathering gloom in job market by equipping yourself with the latest tech skills.

FITE planning group petition with Tamil Nadu labour department on alleged lay-off by Cognizant

Tamil Nadu's labour laws provide for aggrieved employees to approach the Conciliation wing of the state labour department to settle disputes with employers.

Donald Trump blamed for job losses as India tech workers face cuts

Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro won’t disclose how many jobs they cut, but it appears the industry is going through one of the largest retrenchments in its history.

Government allays IT job loss fears, says working on H-1B issues

Sundararajan said the industry was continuing to grow at 8-9% this year, same as last year, and reports of massive job losses in the industry were untrue.

If you are techie with 5-15 years experience & based in a small city, this should worry you

According to executive search firm Head Hunters India, job cuts in IT sector will be between 1.75 lakh and 2 lakh annually for next three years.

Job cuts at Indian outsourcing firms aren't Donald Trump's fault. Read why

Global corporations, the paymasters of Indian software vendors, are no longer so keen to ante up for application development and maintenance.

Cognizant seeks 2 weeks time from Telangana govt over employees' 'resignations'

The Forum for IT Employees had filed a petition on "layoffs" by the IT giant, alleging that Cognizant was illegally terminating thousands of employees.

No downsizing, to hire more: TCS chief Rajesh Gopinathan

"We are here to create jobs, not to downsize," he asserted after TCS launched a BPO centre here to create new opportunities as part of the government's Digital India push.

Cognizant to retain digital talent in slowdown, anticipating recovery

The Teaneck, New Jersey-based IT services provider earns around 38% of its $16.8 bn revenue from digital businesses.

Cognizant merges two service lines into one new unit, appoints Malcolm Frank incharge

The new service line -- Digital Business and Technology -- will be headed by current president and head of digital business, Malcolm Frank.

Cognizant lays off employees across multiple India locations

Vinod AJ, general secretary of the All India Forum for IT Employees (AIFITE), said Cognizant employees across Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Kochi and Kolkata have been affected.

Combined capabilities of TriZetto & Cognizant can let us cash in on big opportunities: Rajeev Mehta, CEO of IT services, Cognizant

"We have to retrain and reskill our staff and I think you saw a conscious effort on that over the last couple of quarters….we still have some work to do."

Cognizant cuts bench time, puts pressure on employees

Cognizant has cut the bench time for employees, opening up the possibility of more exits.

IBM, the silent job cutter, stokes worker anxiety, speculation

Speculation about thousands of job cuts last month has heightened anxiety among employees.

US government goes tough on Indian IT outsourcing; deals with Disney, Fossil under lens

The latest contract to be scrutinised is one with Walt Disney, which recently signed a deal with US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Cognizant may lay off more, delays campus hires

Under new CEO, Cognizant is undergoing a widespread restructuring aimed at boosting growth & lowering costs.

Cognizant: Mighty growth engine comes to near halt

Two things happened around 2016 that might provide a clue to this collapse.

IBM India staff still battle tech blues fearing more layoffs

From around 1.65 lakh employees on its payroll in 2011, IBM's India headcount is expected to slide to one lakh by March this year.

IT companies to shed 5-10% of mid-level workforce: Ex-CFO of Infosys

IT cos have no choice but to lay off some of their mid-level staff to become more agile, said ex-CFO of Infosys.

With firing rises hiring of outplacement companies

Firms are now going big on outplacement and career-transition services for staff who are being let go of.

Infosys lays off mid, senior level executives

The company is letting go of 10% of the workforce, or around 2,200 people.

Cognizant to trim top deck to make room for juniors

Cognizant clarified the number of job losses that were being targeted.“The number of senior job cuts will be under 200,” a Cognizant spokesperson told ET.

No mass job cuts, freshers to get 20% more from next year, says Cognizant

Cognizant slashed its revenue growth guidance earlier and said it was looking at cutting jobs to reduce costs.

Cognizant to reopen dialogue with 8 employees who claim they were forced to resign

The development on Friday is a hard-earned relief for the eight employees fearing the axe amid reports of higher-than-expected non-performer exits from the IT firm.

Why IT firms could soon be forced to let the senior techie go

Emerging technology poses a big threat to jobs and companies. It can force companies to rationalise workforce and even finish certain jobs.

AIITEA mulls IT Employees United Front to address layoffs

"We are planning to organise a united front of IT employees associations to hold talks with Karnataka govt to resolve the issue," an AIITEA official said..

Cognizant pushes back salary hikes, promotions for staff by 3 months

In an email sent to employees from Jim Lennox, CTS's chief people officer, said revisions and promotions will be effective from October 1.

Sad over recent IT layoffs, says Narayana Murthy

Infosys had announced that it could hand out pink slips to hundreds of mid and senior-level employees as it carries out bi-annual performance review.

11 Tech Mahindra employees move labour court

Last month, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra had tendered apology over the manner in which an employee of Tech Mahindra was asked to quit.

Employee separation offer first time in India and US: Cognizant

The programme gives participants a chance to explore other opportunities while making way for the next generation of leaders to step up.

It’s the turn of Pune techies to complain of ‘illegal’ layoffs

Former employees of IT firms including Cognizant, Tech Mahindra and Wipro in Pune on Thursday filed separate petitions with the Maharashtra Commissioner of Labour against their former employers saying that their services have been terminated illegally.