Cognizant on Thursday announced that it was rewarding employees with bonus payouts, promotions and merit raises. The bonuses, it said, was above the level of company performance and substantially higher than 2019. Of the 2,89,500 employees the US-based IT company had at the end of 2020, 2,04,500 were based in India.
In a statement, Cognizant India Chairman and Managing Director Rajesh Nambiar said, “In recognition of the professionalism, client-centricity, work ethic and perseverance of our employees globally in serving our clients during this protracted pandemic, we are rewarding bonuses above the level of company performance and substantially higher than 2019, despite 2020 being an extraordinarily challenging year.”
He added that the company was awarding 1.6 lakh employees with merit increases globally, and said more than 24,000 employees have been promoted.
“In order to reward our employees in a more timely manner for their hard work and high performance, we are moving to a quarterly promotion cycle for billable employees at the Senior Associate level and below, starting in Q2 2021,” Nambiar added.
“We continue to remain heavily focused on maintaining a competitive and appealing employee environment where every individual is inspired to achieve, driven to perform, and rewarded for their contributions. We aim for our employees to feel motivated, engaged, and empowered to do their best work through careers they find meaningful,” he said.
The company’s results for the final quarter of last year saw the company reporting a 20% decline in net income to $316 million, down from $395 million year-on-year. Cognizant's revenue declined 2.3% to $4.18 billion from $4.28 billion a year ago.
Cognizant follows the calendar year, with its fourth quarter ending in December. Cognizant’s yearly income was down 24% from 2019 — to $1.39 billion in 2020 from $1.84 billion in 2019.
Cognizant’s move comes as the company’s attrition rate increases. Cognizant saw its quarterly annualised voluntary attrition go up from 10% to 16%, and quarterly annualised attrition up from 18% to 19%.
According to a report in the Times of India, Cognizant has set up a $30 million fund to retain top performers and digitally skilled employees.