Cognizant gives 100% bonus to employees for 2025 after strong results

Cognizant awards a 100% bonus after beating growth estimates, with CEO Ravi Kumar saying the company has reached its "winner's circle" ahead of schedule

Cognizant has given a 100 per cent bonus to its employees after the company reported better-than-expected full-year numbers and said it has reached the winner’s circle earlier than it had anticipated.

  The term, frequently used over the last year by chief executive officer Ravi Kumar, refers to top-tier revenue growth, gaining market share, sustaining large-deal momentum, upskilling, margin expansion, and having earnings per share (EPS) growth greater than revenue growth.

 

“Our 2025 results are the direct outcome of your hustle, disciplined execution, and commitment to our clients and to Cognizant. To recognise this effort, I am pleased to share that we have authorised funding our discretionary bonus programme at 100,” Kumar said in an internal email to employees.

 

Cognizant aimed to reach that internal benchmark in 2027, as per its last investor day presentation, but Kumar has repeatedly said the Nasdaq-listed company is back among the top companies when it comes to revenue growth. For 2025, its revenue was up 6.4 per cent in constant currency, better than its own estimates of 6–6.3 per cent.

 

This bonus percentage is the highest in seven years, signalling the company’s ability and keenness to reward and retain employees. Cognizant has been trying, under Kumar, to enhance its attractiveness as a preferred place to work after losing thousands of employees when Brian Humphries headed the firm.

 

At that time, attrition soared to record levels, so much so that Cognizant could not take up projects due to a lack of manpower, leading to a vicious cycle of stagnation. But since Kumar, a long-time Infosys veteran, came on board more than three years ago, the company has been trying to steady the ship.

 

While salary increases were delayed and only made effective from November, awarding full bonuses is expected to lift employee morale. Enhancing the employee value proposition, expanding learning infrastructure programmes, and upskilling are some of the key pillars of employee engagement for the company.

 

“Reaching the winner’s circle ahead of plan reflects the consistency in our execution and the progress we have made on growth and margins,” Kumar said in a conference call with analysts on Wednesday.

 

Cognizant’s entry in the winner’s circle is based on how its constant currency revenue growth is ranked against a set of companies in 2025. According to the company’s investor presentation, its revenue growth ranking among peers improved over the last few years, moving from 10th place in 2022 to eighth in 2023 and then to sixth in 2024.