Tough times: Cognizant defers salary hikes, promotions by three months

IT major informed its employees that salary revisions and promotions would be effective from October 1. This process usually gets over by July.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) has pushed back promotions and salary hikes by three months due to slow growth and rising business costs.

The software services major informed its employees that any salary revisions and promotions would be effective from October 1, people in the know told Business Standard. This process usually gets over by July.

The company has 2,61,200 employees across the world.

The company's chief people officer, Jim Lennox, in a note to the staff said employees up to the manager level would receive “a percentage increase in their basic pay like previous years, while people at senior manager and above level would get a “lump sum” amount. This apart, they will get performance-linked bonuses.

For employees up to the level of vice president, according to the note, the new salaries would be effective from October 1.  A Cognizant spokesperson declined to comment.

Some of the former and existing employees of the company said a delay in appraisal clearly hints at tough times for the IT industry and a large chunk of mid-level employees also fear job losses on account of slow growth and technology disruption.

This comes at a time when the company, like its peers such as Infosys, TCS others, reduced H1B visa applications and ramped up local hiring in their largest market in the US. This will certainly result in initial cost pressure, said analysts.