Cognizant to cut 7,000 mid-to-senior level jobs, exit content operation biz

Cognizant will cut around 7,000 mid to senior-level jobs in the coming quarters, as part of a restructuring process. This will be in addition to the 6,000 employees who will be impacted after it exits the content operation business, the US-based IT services company said.

In a post-earnings call, CEO Brian Humphries said as a part of organisational restructuring, the company had made the difficult decision to let go of more than 10,000 to 12,000 mid-to-senior level employees from their current roles. It was being done in part to optimise cost and also to invest in the reskilling and growth.

“The gross net reduction of employees will be 5,000 to 7,000 roles,” Humphries said, explaining that around 5,000 staff would be reskilled and deployed.

This, however, does not include the 6,000 employees who will be affected by Cognizant’s decision to get out of content operations business.

The move is a part of restructuring effort undertaken by Humphries to restore Cognizant to its former glory.  These efforts, the management said will result in the cost saving of $500-$550 million, primarily arising from layoffs in the senior management level and change in sales personnel compensation model.

In the last few quarters, the company has shunned jobs and exited business not in line with its strategy.

Content moderation is one such business. In the earnings call, the management said, “Our work (in content moderation) is largely focused on determining whether certain content violates the client's standards and can involve objectionable materials. This is not in line with the strategic vision of the company.”

This decision will impact financial performance in the communication and media vertical.

For the third quarter ended September, the company registered a revenue of $4.25 billion, up 4.2 percent for the same quarter previous year.

Digital revenue, growing at 25 percent, accounts for about 35 percent of the company’s revenue. The company’s net profit stood at $497 million compared to $477 million for the comparable quarter last year.