Cognizant Likely to Fire 6,000 Workers as Part of 'Regular Appraisals'

Information Technology firm Cognizant may fire as many as 6,000 employees this year, Economic Times reported, citing sources it didn’t identify. The firings may be part of the firms “regular appraisal cycle”, the sources said.

“This is part of the normal cycle. And Cognizant will not be alone in this, most IT companies will have rigorous appraisal process,” the sources told ET. Earlier, another report in the Hindu Business Line said that the firings could be because of underperformance and skills mismatch.

The number of employees laid off amounts to around 2-3 percent of the total workforce of Cognizant. The move comes as the company is in the process of boosting its margins and returning over $3 billion to shareholders, ET reported.

Cognizant said in February that it was accelerating its hiring in the US and accelerate the pace of acquisitions to grow its digital business.