Covid-19: Cognizant to give 25% extra pay to two-thirds of India workforce

The company has allowed work from home for the majority of its offshore teams to ensure employee health and safety

Information technology services firm Cognizant has announced it will pay its employees who are at the associate level or below an additional 25 per cent of their base salary in April in recognition of their “extraordinary continuity-of-service efforts” amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
 

The policy, which the company will review on a monthly basis, will benefit over two-thirds of its Indian workforce. The company had 203,700 employees across 13 locations in India as on December 31, 2019.
 

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has imposed a nationwide 21-day lockdown in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The Philippines is under a state of national emergency. We support these and other efforts by governments across the world to ‘flatten the curve’ and contain the spread of COVID-19,” said Brian Humphries, chief executive officer of Cognizant, in a letter to employees.

“While the pandemic will likely dampen industry demand, we know the requirement for fulfillment remains critical,” he added.

“While the pandemic will likely dampen industry demand, we know the requirement for fulfilment remains critical,” he added.
 

The company has allowed work-from-home (WFH) for a majority of its offshore teams. “In recognition of the extraordinary continuity-of-service efforts of our associates in India and the Philippines... we will provide those at the associate level and below with an additional payment of 25 per cent of their base pay for April. We will be reviewing this approach monthly,” Humphries added. Cognizant, like all global companies, is also experiencing the impact of COVID-19 on both demand and fulfilment, from London to Mumbai to Manila, said the IT major.
 

“Even with all of the preparation and foresight of our crisis management and business continuity teams around the globe, it’s hard to imagine that we — or anyone — could have developed a playbook to anticipate the full impact of COVID-19” said Humphries.
 

Cognizant is supporting core banking operations to ensure that financial transactions are secure and is providing crucial health care, medical management, and insurance solutions, including for those affected by COVID-19.