In the third quarter ended September 30, Cognizant’s net employee hiring was over 17,000, and it is on track to onboard 45,000 new hires in FY22. However, like its peers, the US-based IT company with a large employee base in India is facing the pressure of higher attrition — at 33 per cent in Q3. “Attrition is an industry-wide concern. There is an unprecedented demand for talent and it is widely known that the industry is impacted overall. However, looking at our results, attrition has no bearing on our top line growth,” Rajesh Nambiar, President - Digital Business & Technology and Chairman, India at Cognizant, told BusinessLine after the company announced its third quarter results on Thursday. Excerpts:

Did you anticipate the supply-demand imbalance?

Yes, we anticipated the supply-demand imbalance earlier in the year and began investing in our recruitment capacities. We now have a strong talent acquisition ecosystem; investing in people more than ever before; on track to meet hiring targets. We have added over 900 recruiters. We have partnerships with 150 campuses, and added another 200 campuses. We have now over 318,000 associates globally and India has always been the heart of Cognizant.

With strong bookings in Q3, how are you going to arrest the attrition?

We are investing more in the growth of our people than at any other time. There is also a strong internal digital training and upskilling programmes alongside higher education programmes in premier institutions. Internal mobility is part of talent growth strategy. There is a special job promotions programme introduced, with quarterly promotions. The company also rolled out merit increases from October 1 for billable and non-billable associates.

What’s the hiring plan for next year?

We are on track to onboard 30,000 new associates this year and an additional 45,000 offers for 2022. We are also hiring 100,000 experienced talent who are trained in all the key digital skills like Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing and digital engineering.

Where does India fit in Cognizant's recent net zero emission announcement by 2030?

We believe businesses have a profound responsibility to contribute towards India’s sustainable future. A critical step for us in this direction is to reach net zero across India by investing in renewable energy usage in all nine states where we operate, expanding energy efficiencies through a revamped infrastructure at Cognizant facilities, and deploying technologies such as cloud, IoT to further lower emissions.

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