Cognizant yet to decide on salary hikes, to cover most employees in H2, says CFO

Cognizant CFO Jatin Dalal

IT services company Cognizant plans to roll out wage hikes for most of its employees in the second half of 2025 but is yet to decide the timeline amid macroeconomic uncertainty, chief financial officer (CFO) Jatin Dalal.

The New Jersey-headquartered firm’s stance is in line with that of the several of its peers, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCLTech and Persistent Systems.

Infosys is the only exception among Tier-I IT players to have hiked wages in FY26.

Cognizant usually starts its increment season from August 1 but the company has signalled delays this time.

Speaking at the earnings conference on July 31, Dalal said, “Given the macro environment at play and the uncertainty around it, we have not yet taken a decision on salary increase. Our endeavour is to cover a vast majority of our employees during the second half of this year as and when we decide.”

Globally, the IT industry is facing several macro-economic headwinds, including US President Donald Trump’s tariff decisions, which threaten to upend global trade, making it difficult for clients to decide on their tech budget plans.

On July 30, Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on Indian goods and an additional unspecified penalty for buying Russian oil and arms.

Cognizant continues to see a steady headcount growth, having added around 7,500 employees sequentially in Q2CY25. Cognizant follows January-December financial year. The company now has 343,800 employees.

Its attrition fell to 15.2 percent on a last twelve months basis, down 60 basis points from the previous quarter.

The company also plans to hire around 15,000-20,000 freshers in 2025.

CEO Ravi Kumar S said this was one of the first quarters where the company reported significant headcount addition. A large chunk of this was driven by freshers hired in India.

"Headcount grew by 2 percent sequentially, led by the hiring of recent college graduates. We continue prepare our workforce for an AI-led future. We are deepening our talent in emerging technologies… We are setting up a 21-acre learning site in Chennai that is expected to train freshers and experienced hires in advanced AI skills," Kumar said.

Also read: Cognizant tops Q2 revenue growth estimates, lifts full year growth guidance to 4-6%

Cognizant’s Q2 earnings beat Street estimates on revenue, growing 8.1 percent year on year to $5.25 billion, driven by strong deal bookings. This was the fourth straight quarter of revenue growth.

Revenue rose 7.2 percent in constant currency, much higher than its guidance band for the second quarter of 5-6.5 percent.

Net profit grew 14 percent on-year to $645 million. The company raised its 2025 constant currency revenue growth guidance to 4-6 percent on the lower end from its previous full-year guidance of 3.5-6 percent for 2025.