Struggling with growth in the fast-shifting IT environment, Cognizant Technology Solutions is likely to fire at least 6,000 employees in India as part of its appraisal cycle, which represents 2.3 per cent of its total workforce.
According to an Economic Times report, the variable payout to employees for 2016 is also expected to be adversely affected.
Meanwhile, media reports have suggested that the company may fire as many as 10,000 employees, specifying that this is part of their normal appraisal process.
“This is part of the normal cycle. And Cognizant will not be alone in this, most IT companies will have rigorous appraisal process this and employees who have not taken efforts to reskill will not find it easy in the next two years,” Economic Times quoted a source as saying.
Cognizant, which has a workforce of over 2,65,000 employees, generally lets go off 2-3 per cent of its workforce every year, who are under-performers.
“As part of our workforce management strategy, we conduct regular performance reviews to ensure we have the right employee skill sets necessary to meet client needs and achieve our business goals. This process results in changes, including some employees transitioning out of the company,” a Cognizant spokesperson said.
“Any actions as the result of this process are performance-based and generally consistent with those we-'ve made in previous years. In any given year, the numbers may bounce a percentage here or there, but this is part of our standard practice. At the same time, we continue to enhance our capabilities and hire for roles across all our practice areas in the company,” the spokersperson added.
The move comes as the company is in the process of boosting its margins and returning over $3 billion (approx. Rs 20,000 crore) to shareholders.
