Cognizant announces a record 15,000 promotions in May

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. While many of us may
have cribbed about pay cuts with appraisals and promotions put on hold, in the
last one year, it now appears that things are soon going to change and for the
better.

Cognizant has taken the lead by announcing the first round of
promotionspromoting an unbelievable 15,000 associates globally who are below
the managerial level. The company also paid out about 200% bonus in March.

Shankar Srinivasan, chief people officer, Cognizant India says, While
promotions in Cognizant have always been consistent with our philosophy of
recognizing the contribution of our associates towards our growth, our
industry-leading growth over the past year has enabled promotions and career
growth opportunities to a record number of employees this year. These promotions
will be effective from May onwards.

The first round of promotions has come in the wake of increase in revenues.
In the quarter ended March 31, 2010, Cognizants revenue was $960 mn, a
sequential increase of 6.3% and 29% y-o-y.The company also raised its 2010
revenue guidance to at least $4.1 bn, up 25% compared to 2009.

Well, there is more...Cognizant will soon be announcing the second wave of
promotions for associates above the managerial levels. We are slated to promote
those at manager and above levels effective July, for which the numbers are
being worked out, adds Srnivasan. According to a report in Economic Times, A
sizeable chunk of the employees in that level are also likely to see themselves
redesignated to a higher level. These employees would receive a fair chunk of
pay hikes as well.

Cognizant currently has around 78,400 employees. By promoting around 15,000
associates globally, Cognizant has become the only IT company in India to
announce the largest number of promotions in one single go. Last month, Infosys
had announced promotions for 7,500 employees.

While the company declined to disclose its hiring guidance, Srinivasan
added that in the last twelve months, from April 2009 to March 2010, Cognizant
has added 21,800 professionals to the global headcounttaking the global
headcount from 63,700 end of March 2009 to 85,500 end of March 2010.
Incidentally, during this period we saw the highest headcount addition in the
last twelve months among the top-tier players from India, he highlights.

Unlike other companies of its ilk, Cognizant saw the economic slowdown as an
opportunity to attract as much good talent. In order to achieve this end, we
invested in people to gain an unfair share from the talent marketplace, as
evidenced in the strong hiring through much of 2009, Srinivasan signs off.

Stuti Das

stutid@cybermedia.co.in