Cognizant to expand headcount

Global BPO giant Cognizant will expand its headcount in India by about 14,700 this year and will also broadbase its talent pool by hiring doctors, lawyers and CAs.

The move comes at a time when global giants such as Yahoo and IBM as also some Indian companies are cutting their workforce in the backdrop of a wage inflation, rupee rise and economic uncertainties in the US, which have dented their profitability.

The Nasdaq-listed outsourcing firm said it plans to add 16,600-19,600 professionals globally in 2008 to take its global headcount to 72,000-75,000.

"Of these 16,600-19,600 professionals to be added globally, upwards of 75 per cent will be hired in India," Cognizant Human Resources Vice President Bhaskar Das said.

Cognizant's global headcount at the end of December 2007 was 55,400, which included more than three-fourth (over 41,000) employees in India.

The company is also planning to widen its recruiting pool beyond the traditional streams such as engineering, management and science.

"On the type of profiles we will go after, beyond engineering, management and science disciplines, it will include doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants, pharmacists, bio-statisticians and supply chain specialists for our IT services and KPO practice, and in recruiting graphic designers, user interface specialists, and learning specialists for our content and design services," Das said.

Cognizant reported an impressive Q4 results, with a 41 per cent increase in revenues to $600 million compared with the year-ago quarter, beating market expectations at a time when financial results of companies like Yahoo and IBM failed to meet their targets.

The two companies have also announced job cuts to the tune of 740.