'Cognizant may lay off 6,000 employees this year'

Information technology giant Cognizant Technology Solutions is likely to lay off at least 6,000 employees.
The US listed IT company, which has a significant workforce in India, is expected to cut down its employee count by as much as 2.3 per cent.
"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.
The layoffs are likely to be more this year than the routine annual exercise that weeds out the bottom 1% of the workforce for non-performance as determined by the annual appraisal process that ends in March, the report said.
The move comes at a time when automation of entry-level positions is making thousand of jobs



redundant in the Indian IT sector.
Last year, the layoffs were about 1-2 per cent, while two years ago, it was about 1 per cent. Cognizant had 2,60,200 employees globally as on December 31, with 1,88,000, or 72%, based in India, the report said.  

The variable payout to employees for 2016, too, is expected to be adversely affected, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Cognizant, which competes with Indian firms like TCS and Infosys, saw its most challenging time with revenue growing 8.6 per cent, after years of double digit growth.
During 2016, the company The IT firm reported a two per cent drop in net profit to $416 million for fourth quarter ended December 31, 2016 against $423 million for the same quarter last year.
In February, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp announced that it would do share buybacks worth $3.4 billion over two years.