In the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cognizant Technology Solutions has announced an additional payment of 25 per cent of the base pay for April for employees up to the associate level in India and the Philippines. This applies to more than two-thirds of the IT firm’s India workforce.

“In recognition of the extraordinary continuity-of-service efforts of our associates in India and the Philippines, and as a tangible sign of our gratitude for their perseverance, we will provide those at the associate level and below with an additional payment of 25 per cent of their base pay for the month of April. This will be processed with your April paycheck, and we will be reviewing this approach monthly,” said Brian Humphries, the company’s CEO, in a communication to employees this morning.

“My appreciation for the heroic work of our associates extends across our company to our commercial and delivery teams and to all of our support functions including security, both physical and cyber, government affairs, HR, IT, real estate, and more. This crisis has not only brought our company closer together but also brought out the best in everyone,” he added.

Cognizant has enabled work from home (WFH) for the majority of its offshore teams to ensure employee health and safety, and to maintain continuity of service for clients, while safeguarding their data and protecting access to their systems, said Humphries in the note. The WFH measures include provisioning new laptops and encrypting desktops and moving them to associate homes, enabling the use of BYOD (bring your own device), providing additional bandwidth connectivity and air cards — all with the appropriate client permissions and security protocols, he added.

“While working from home may amount to a significant shift in behaviour for many of you, please continue to keep up the essential work you do for our clients,” he said.

Cognizant, like all global companies, is experiencing the effects of the public health emergency on both the demand and fulfilment sides of its business, from London to Mumbai to Manilla and New York, Humphries said.

India has imposed a nationwide 21-day lock-down in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The Philippines is under a state of national emergency. “We support these and other efforts by governments across the world to flatten the curve and contain the spread of Covid-19,” he said.

comment COMMENT NOW