Cognizant Will Fire Employees Under ‘Performance Management’; Will 18,000 Employees Get Fired?

After facing severe criticism and backlash over media reports of firing 18,000 benched employees, Cognizant has finally issued a statement.

It seems that the layoffs have been planned under ‘Performance Management’.

Will 18,000 employees who are benched will get fired?

This is what Cognizant has to say.

Cognizant: It’s Not Firing, But It’s Performance Management

After ET Now asked Cognizant to clarify over reports and claims that they are firing 18,000 benched employees across India, they have responded.

In a statement, Cognizant has informed that the alleged mass-layoffs are part of their performance management activity and its normal across IT firms.

Cognizant said, “Performance management is a normal process across all companies in the IT industry, including Cognizant.”

Earlier, Karnataka based IT employees union had claimed that Cognizant is placing employees on bench, and then after 30-40 days, they are forcefully firing them saying there is not enough work for them.

The IT Union had claimed that Cognizant will fire 18,000 employees using this modus operandi.

Cognizant Says 18,000 Employees Being Fired Is Not True

On the issue of numbers, that is 18,000 employees getting fired, Cognizant has replied that this is not true. And that they are still hiring employees.

They said, “While Cognizant does not comment on rumour and speculation in the marketplace, we would like to clarify that recent third party allegations regarding a specific number of job actions are not accurate, Cognizant continues to hire at all levels in India and globally.”

They also added that Cognizant is upskilling and re-training employees to make them more productive for the company.

Interestingly, Cognizant rolled out VRS or Voluntary Retirement Scheme for employees in the US to save money on salaries.

We will keep you updated, as more details come in.