Attrition-hit Cognizant names Soma Pandey as Global Head of Talent Management

Prior to Cognizant, Soma Pandey was CHRO in Firstsource Solutions for close to five years.

NASDAQ-listed IT services firm Cognizant has appointed Soma Pandey as the Head of Talent Management to drive and shape the company’s talent strategy, it said in a statement.

This comes at a time when the company's attrition rate stood at 33 percent, the highest compared to its peers, and unable to fulfill its business potential due to lack of headcount even as the demand continues to be strong.

Pandey’s appointment also comes after Suresh Bethavandu, global head of talent acquisition, resigned from Cognizant after a 25-year stint in October and joined Mindtree recently as Chief People Officer.

Prior to Cognizant, Pandey was CHRO in Firstsource Solutions for close to five years. With cumulative experience of over 25 years, Pandey has worked for firms such as Accenture, Randstad, Mastek, and ITC Ltd, in multiple roles.

Becky Schmitt, Chief People Officer, Cognizant, said in a statement, “We are excited to welcome Soma to the Cognizant family at a time when we are investing in the career growth and engagement of our talent more than ever. I look forward to how Soma will foster our distinct, high-performance culture, accelerate careers, drive engagement, and empower new-age leadership capabilities that will engineer impact for our clients.”

The company has over 300,000 employees globally with close to 200,000 in India. The company added over 17,000 people in the quarter ending September 2021. “Given our focus in recent years on accelerating pressure hiring in India, we've made meaningful progress on addressing our pyramid. In the fourth quarter, we expect to make offers to 45,000 new graduates in India for on-boarding in 2022. Retention and recruitment have our leadership’s full attention,” CEO Brian Humphries said during the earnings call in October.

The company is also investing significantly in retaining employees. This includes wage hikes, promotions, and also charter their career path where they are given opportunity to explore open leadership roles within the company.

Cognizant reported $4.7 billion in revenues for the quarter ending September, up 11.8 percent year-on-year. It has guided for 11.1 percent revenue growth guidance for FY21.