Cognizant warns employees of layoff for defying return-to-office diktat: Report

Cognizant may fire those who defy return-to-office diktat after warnings.

Nasdaq-listed IT major Cognizant has warned its employees that they could be fired for defying the diktat of returning to office even after repeated reminders, LiveMint reported.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

In an April 15 letter to the employees, Cognizant asked those who have not returned to office despite warnings to refer to earlier communications from business leaders on in-office expectations, the report added.

"Please note that failure to adhere to the directions will amount to serious misconduct as per company policies and accordingly appropriate disciplinary action will be initiated against you which may lead up to termination," said the letter to an employee, the report said.

In February, according to news agency Reuters, the IT firm asked its employees in India to work from office for three days a week.

Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S said in a memo in February that all India associates are "expected to be in the office an average of three days per week, or as defined by their team leader", without shedding light on the move's effective date.

Around 254,000 of Cognizant's 347,700 employees are based in India, making up the company's largest employee base, according to its annual report.

The company's Indian peers such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro mandated employees to return to the office in 2023, with TCS laying down a five-days-a-week schedule.

Cognizant’s attrition rate decreased by 10 percentage points to 13.1 percent on a trailing 12-month basis. Its utilisation rate increased by 1 percentage point to 82 percent for the quarter ended March 31.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) posted a fall of 1.1 percent year-on-year (YoY) in revenue to $4.8 billion because of lower discretionary spending by clients.