It seems that IT major Cognizant’s main motive as of now is pleasing their beloved shareholders, at the expense of their loyal employees who helped them become what it is today.
In a stunning revelation, it has been found that Cognizant fired 9000 employees in the last 90 days.
This is the highest count of firings, among all the IT firms in the world.
9000 Cognizant Employees Fired In 90 Days
For the 2nd quarter of 2020, that is April, May and June, Cognizant has fired 9000 employees from their payroll.
That’s almost 100 employees being fired daily.
Overall, Cognizant’s headcount decreased by 10,500 employees in the last quarter.
As of June 30, 2020, Cognizant had 281,200 employees, which is 10,500 less than 291,700 which was the employee count last quarter.
This is also 2.5% less than the total employee count of last year, for the same quarter.
Comparing the numbers, the current headcount at Cognizant is at the 2018 level.
How So Many Employees Got Fired?
Cognizant has announced that their quarterly annualized attrition rate stood at 24%, which is the highest among all the IT firms in India and globally.
Out of this, 11% was voluntary, and 13% was enforced upon, or in layman terms, fired.
TimesNow states: “Back of the envelope calculations show that the company may have laid off over 9,000 employees in a quarter, as it struggles to bring back growth amidst a string of top-level exits.”
Pleasing Shareholders In The Objective Now?
During a call with analysts, chief financial officer Karen McLoughlin (who is being replaced now) informed that their ‘Fit for Growth’ plan is working, and they are improving their numbers.
She said, “Net head count declined approximately 2.5% year-over-year, including the roughly 7,000 associates exited under the Fit for Growth plan. These cost actions as well as increased rigor in our performance management process are reflected in our elevated annualized attrition rate of 24%. Voluntary attrition continued the downward trend we’ve seen over the last four quarters to approximately 11% in Q2,”
Under Fit For Growth plan, Cognizant plan to reduce their employee’s strength by 13,000 , and spend Rs 350 crore to terminate them.
Infact, more than 300 senior executives are being asked to leave as well.
Around 11,000 employees have resigned from India’s top 5 IT firms: TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL and Tech Mahindra.
But firing 9000 employees by Cognizant is something unprecedented.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.
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