Cognizant’s India Headcount Drops in 2017

Software services company Cognizant’s headcount in India dropped by 8000 in the end of 2017, even though the number of people it employs in the US and Europe increased. This information came into the public domain when the company’s data for annual filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed.

The software giant employed about 260,000 people at the end of 2017, out of which 180,000 were in India. Whereas at the end of 2016, the company’s headcount stood at 260,200 people, out of which 188,000 were in India.

The number of Cognizant employees in the European countries rose by about 2300 at the end of last year, whereas Cognizant’s US headcount has increased by about 2900 to 50,400.

As Automation and Artificial Intelligence technologies are impacting on the software industry, for the first time, Indian IT companies are facing fall in headcounts. Also, a need to create talent overseas makes investing in India far less important which in turn accounts to lesser number of jobs. The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has also forecasted lower headcount growth, even as companies expect to hire in the thousands in the US.

This fall in jobs is becoming a cause of concern for potential job aspirants. Industry experts believe that the Indian IT sector is hiring cautiously, even though the US and European markets are witnessing huge recruitments taking place.

Speaking at the industry’s flagship event in Hyderabad earlier this month, R Chandrasekhar, President, Nasscom said the IT sector, which has been a key job creator in the country, will see a net addition of 10,00,000 people in FY19. The sector added a similar amount in FY18, less than the initial projection of an addition of 150,000 jobs. Chandrasekhar said it is time to look at sectors other than technology services like IT for employment growth.