Cognizant

Template:Short description {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for clobbered parameters|check|nested=1|template=Infobox company|cat=Template:Main other|name; company_name|logo; company_logo|logo_alt; alt|trade_name; trading_name|former_names; former_name|type; company_type|predecessors; predecessor|successors; successor|foundation; founded|founders; founder|defunct; dissolved|hq_location; location|hq_location_city; location_city|hq_location_country; location_country|num_locations; locations|areas_served; area_served|net_income; profit|net_income_year; profit_year|owners; owner |homepage; website }}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox company with unknown parameter "_VALUE_" | ignoreblank=y | alt | area_served | areas_served | assets | assets_year | aum | brands | company_logo | company_name | company_type | defunct | dissolved | divisions | embed | equity | equity_year | fate | footnotes | former_name | former_names | foundation | founded | founder | founders | genre | homepage | hq_location | hq_location_city | hq_location_country | incorporated | image | image_alt | image_caption | image_size | image_upright | income_year | industry | ISIN | key_people | location | location_city | location_country | locations | logo | logo_alt | logo_caption | logo_class | logo_size | logo_upright | members | members_year | module | name | native_name | native_name_lang | net_income | net_income_year | num_employees | num_employees_year | num_locations | num_locations_year | operating_income | owner | owners | parent | predecessor | predecessors | production | production_year | products | profit | profit_year | rating | ratio | revenue | revenue_year | romanized_name | services | subsid | successor | successors | traded_as | trade_name | trading_name | type | website| qid | fetchwikidata | suppressfields | noicon | nocat | demo | categories }} Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is an American multinational information technology consulting and outsourcing company originally founded in India.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States. Cognizant is part of the NASDAQ-100 and trades under CTSH. It was founded in Chennai, India, as an in-house technology unit of Dun & Bradstreet in 1994,<ref name="mishra">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and started serving external clients in 1996.<ref name="mishra" /> After a series of corporate reorganizations, there was an initial public offering in 1998.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ravi Kumar Singisetti has been the CEO of the company since January 2023, replacing Brian Humphries.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

Cognizant was established in 1994 in Chennai, India, as Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software (DBSS), a 76:24 joint venture between Dun & Bradstreet and Satyam Computers, with Kumar Mahadeva, and Srini Raju as the founding CEOs and MDs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="DBSSRenamed">Template:Cite news</ref> It began with 50 employees in Chennai as Dun & Bradstreet's in-house technology unit focused on implementing large-scale IT projects for Dun & Bradstreet businesses.<ref name="srinistory">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1996, the company started pursuing customers beyond Dun & Bradstreet.<ref name="forbes-contrarian">Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 1996, Dun & Bradstreet spun off several of its subsidiaries, including Erisco, IMS International, Nielsen Media Research, Pilot Software, Strategic Technologies and DBSS, to form a new company called Cognizant Corporation, headquartered in Chennai, India. Three months later, in 1997, DBSS renamed itself Cognizant Technology Solutions.

In July 1997, Dun & Bradstreet bought Satyam's 24% stake in DBSS for $3.4 million.<ref name="nomodestambitions">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Headquarters were moved to the United States, and in March 1998, Kumar Mahadeva was named CEO.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Operating as a division of the Cognizant Corporation, the company focused on Y2K-related projects and web development.<ref name="intldir59">International Directory of Company Histories, Vol.59. St. James Press, 2004.</ref>

In 1998, the parent company, Cognizant Corporation, split into two companies: IMS Health and Nielsen Media Research.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After this restructuring, Cognizant Technology Solutions became a public subsidiary of IMS Health. In June 1998, IMS Health partially spun off the company, conducting an initial public offering of the Cognizant stock.

File:Cognizant logo.svg

Cognizant's old logo

File:Cognizant's logo.svg

Cognizant's logo until 2022 March from 2018

In 2003, IMS Health sold its entire 56% stake in Cognizant, which instituted a poison pill provision to prevent hostile takeover attempts.<ref name="intldir59" /><ref>IMS sees some positive impact from Cognizant sale Template:Webarchive by Eric Auchard. Rediff, 16 November 2002 | 1149 IST.</ref> Kumar Mahadeva resigned as the CEO in 2003, and was replaced by Lakshmi Narayanan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Gradually, the company's services portfolio expanded across the IT services landscape and into business process outsourcing (BPO) and business consulting. Lakshmi Narayanan was succeeded by Francisco D'Souza in 2006.

In September 2014, Cognizant acquired healthcare IT services provider TriZetto Corp for $2.7 billion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Cognizant shares rose nearly 3 percent in pre-market trading.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 24 June 2015, the company signed a multimillion-dollar agreement with Escorts Group in India to help Escorts' businesses in digital transformation and modernize its operations across all business segments.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 30 June 2015, it partnered with Singapore-based supermarket retailer NTUC FairPrice to perform digital transformation in NTUC's business to improve personalized and consistent customer service across multiple channels.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 1 April 2019, Francisco D'Souza was replaced by Brian Humphries as the CEO.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In January 2022, Cognizant sold its acquisition Oy Samlink to Kyndryl and Mustache to DJE Holdings.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2023, Ravi Kumar S was named as CEO of Cognizant.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 22 April 2024, Cognizant announced its partnership with Microsoft Corporation to extend its reach of Generative AI and Copilots, also to enhance experiences of employee and speed up their cross-industry innovation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Acquisitions

Company acquired	Country	Date	Business	Reference
Belcan	Template:Flagicon USA	June 2024	Digital Engineering	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Thirdera	Template:Flagicon USA	December 2023	An Elite-level ServiceNow partner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Mobica	Template:Flagicon UK	January 2023	Automotive, Silicon, Internet of Things (IoT)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Utegration	Template:Flagicon USA	December 2022	SAP capabilities for Energy & Utilities	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
AustinCSI	Template:Flagicon USA	November 2022	Digital Transformation	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Onesource Virtual	Template:Flagicon USA	November 2022	Professional services and application management practices (Workday)	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
DevBridge	Template:Flagicon USA	December 2021	Digital Engineering	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Hunter Technical Resources	Template:Flagicon USA	August 2021	Digital Engineering	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
TQS Integration Ltd.	Template:Flagicon USA	July 2021	Data Analytics, Industry 4.0	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ESG Mobility	Template:Flagicon Germany	March 2021	Connected cars, IoT	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Magenic Technologies	Template:Flagicon USA	January 2021	Agile Software and Cloud Development, DevOps	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Linium	Template:Flagicon US	January 2021	ServiceNow	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Servian	Template:Flagicon Australia	January 2021	Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Inawisdom	Template:Flagicon UK	December 2020	AI, Machine Learning	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bright Wolf	Template:Flagicon USA	October 2020	Internet of Things (IoT)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
10th Magnitude	Template:Flagicon USA	September 2020	Microsoft Azure	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Tin Roof Software	Template:Flagicon USA	August 2020	DevOps, Software Engineering	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
New Signature	Template:Flagicon USA	July 2020	Microsoft Cloud Provider	<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Collaborative Solutions	Template:Flagicon USA	May 2020	HR and Finance Cloud Provider	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Lev	Template:Flagicon USA	March 2020	Enterprise Digital Marketing	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
EI-Technologies	Template:Flagicon France	February 2020	CRM Consulting	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Code Zero	Template:Flagicon USA	February 2020	CRM Consulting	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Contino	Template:Flagicon UK	October 2019	Digital Transformation (DevSecOps/Data/Cloud)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Zenith Technologies	Template:Flagicon Ireland	June 2019	Life Sciences Automation	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Meritsoft	Template:Flagicon Ireland	March 2019	Fintech	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Oy Samlink	Template:Flagicon Finland	January 2019	Technology Provider	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Mustache	Template:Flagicon USA	December 2018	Digital Agency	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Softvision	Template:Flagicon USA	October 2018	Digital Solutions	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Advanced Technology Group	Template:Flagicon US	September 2018	CRM Consulting	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
SaaSFocus	Template:Flagicon India	August 2018	CRM Consulting	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Hedera Consulting	Template:Flagicon Belgium	May 2018	Consulting	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Bolder Healthcare Solutions	Template:Flagicon US	March 2018	Health Care IT	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Zone	Template:Flagicon UK	October 2017	Digital Agency	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Netcentric	Template:Flagicon Switzerland	October 2017	Digital Marketing	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
T2C | Top Tier Consulting	Template:Flagicon USA	September 2017	Healthcare Consulting	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
TMG Health	Template:Flagicon USA	June 2017	Health Care IT	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
BrilliantService	Template:Flagicon Japan	March 2017	Intelligent Products, Internet of things	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Adaptra	Template:Flagicon Australia	December 2016	Insurance Consulting, Project Management	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Nova IT	Template:Flagicon Australia	December 2016	HR Services	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
KIS Information Services (KIS)	Template:Flagicon Germany	December 2016	IT Services	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Mirabeau BV	Template:Flagicon Netherlands	November 2016	Digital Marketing, Customer Experience	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Frontica Business Solutions	Template:Flagicon Norway	October 2016	IT Services & Solutions	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Idea Couture	Template:Flagicon Canada	July 2016	Digital Services (Innovation and Experience Design)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Heliocentric	Template:Flagicon El Salvador	May 2016	BPO Services	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Quick Left Inc.	Template:Flagicon USA	May 2016	Mobile & Web Apps	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReD Associates	Template:Flagicon Denmark	April 2016	Market Research	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
KBACE Technologies	Template:Flagicon USA	January 2016	Oracle Cloud, ERP	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Storebrand Baltic	Template:Flagicon Lithuania	Nov 2015	Lithuanian IT unit of Norway's Storebrand	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
CNO Financial Group (India)	Template:Flagicon India	Feb 2015	IT Application Development	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Odecee	Template:Flagicon Australia	November 2014	IT, Consulting and BPO services	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Cadient Group	Template:Flagicon USA	October 2014	Digital Healthcare	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
TriZetto Corp	Template:Flagicon USA	September 2014	Healthcare Payer Software, Provider Revenue Cycle Software (Consulting, Software, BPO, Hosting)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
itaas Interactive TV Solutions	Template:Flagicon USA	April 2014	Digital Video services	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ValueSource Technologies	Template:Flagicon India	October 2013	IT services	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Equinox Consulting	Template:Flagicon France	October 2013	Financial Services Consulting Firm	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
SourceNet Solutions	Template:Flagicon US	May 2013	BPS for Finance & Accounting	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
QBridge	Template:Flagicon US	Jan 2013	Marketing Automation	<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
C1 group (6 companies)	Template:Flagicon Germany	December 2012	btconsult gbbb [process and technology consulting, SAP]; C:1 Solutions GmbH [consulting and enterprise solutions: SAP, BPM, ECM, ERM]; psc Management Consulting GmbH [process and technology consulting]; C:1 SetCon GmbH [software engineering and testing]; Enterprise Services AG [a Swiss company focused on process and IT consulting]; C:1 Holding GmbH	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Medicall	Template:FlagiconPhilippines	November 2012	Medical Transcription	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Excellence Data Research	Template:Flagicon India	August 2012	Market Research	citation	CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>
ING US	Template:Flagicon USA	June 2012	Technology	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Zaffera	Template:Flagicon USA	September 2011	SAP Consulting	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
CoreLogic India	Template:Flagicon India	July 2011	Mortgage processing	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Galileo Performance	Template:Flagicon France	June 2010	Consulting related to the measurement, management and continuous optimization of IT system performance	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
PIPC Group	Template:Flagicon UK	May 2010	Program & Project Management Consulting	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
UBS India Service Center	Template:Flagicon India	October 2009	Business process outsourcing, industry research	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Pepperweed Advisors	Template:Flagicon USA	September 2009	Business Consulting, Program Management	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Invensys Rail R&D India & Invensys Operations Managed R&D Center India	Template:Flagicon India	July 2009	Product Research & Engineering, Manufacturing	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Active Intelligence	Template:Flagicon Canada	February 2009	Consulting, implementation and support services for Oracle Retail Merchandising, Planning and Optimization suite	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Strategic Vision Consulting	Template:Flagicon USA	June 2008	Business Consulting for media and entertainment companies	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
T-Systems India	Template:Flagicon Germany	March 2008	System Integration	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
marketRx	Template:Flagicon USA	November 2007	Life Sciences Analytics, healthcare KPO	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
AimNet	Template:Flagicon USA	September 2006	IT infrastructure services	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Fathom Consulting	Template:Flagicon Canada	April 2005	Telecom & Automotive IT Services	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ygyan Consulting	Template:Flagicon India	February 2004	SAP consulting	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Infopulse	Template:Flagicon Netherlands	December 2003	IT services	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Aces International	Template:Flagicon USA	April 2003	Siebel CRM consulting	<ref name="fathom"/>
American Express Travel-related Services account from Silverline Technologies	Template:Flagicon USA	Sep 2002	Financial services	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
UnitedHealthcare Ireland Limited	Template:Flagicon Ireland	June 2002	Healthcare services (a subsidiary of the UnitedHealth Group)	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Cognizant-Chennai.jpg

Cognizant's original corporate headquarters in Chennai, now an offshore delivery center

File:Cognizant OOH Ad Bangalore.jpg

Cognizant's out of home (OOH) advertisement in Bengaluru

Operations

Regions

As of December 2023, the company has over 347,700 employees globally, of which about 254,000 are in India across 11 cities with a plurality in Chennai.<ref name="empl">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 20 January 1994, Cognizant registered its branch in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India with the legal name Cognizant Technology Solutions India Private Limited. The other centers of the company are in Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mangalore, Mumbai, Noida, Pune and Indore. The company has local, regional, and global delivery centers in the UK, Australia, Hungary, Netherlands, Spain, China, Philippines, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, etc.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Business units

Cognizant is organized into several verticals and horizontal units. The vertical units focus on specific industries such as Banking & Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare, Manufacturing and Retail. The horizontal units focus on specific technologies or process areas such as Analytics, mobile computing, BPO and Testing. Both horizontal and vertical units have business consultants, who form the organization-wide Cognizant Consulting team together. Cognizant is among the largest recruiters of MBAs in the industry; they are involved in business development and business analysis for IT services projects.

Corporate affairs

File:Cognizant's Delivery Center in Chennai -TCO.jpg

Cognizant's Delivery Center in Chennai

Management

Cognizant is led by Ravi Kumar S (CEO) Template:Asof. Jatin Dalal (CFO)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a, Surya Gummadi<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Rajesh Nambiar (President, Digital Business & Technology)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> are some of the others in the leadership team.

On 1 April 2019, Francisco D'Souza was replaced by Brian Humphries as the CEO.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 12 January 2023, Brian Humphries was replaced by former Infosys President, Ravi Kumar Singisetti as the CEO.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Finance

Year	Fortune 500 rank
2024	213
2023	208
2022	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2021	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2020	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2019	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2018	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2017	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2016	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2015	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2014	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2013	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2012	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2011	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Cognizant was listed on NASDAQ in 1998, and added to the NASDAQ-100 Index in 2004. After the close of trading on 16 November 2006, Cognizant moved from the mid cap S&P 400 to the S&P 500.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cognizant became a Fortune 500 company in 2011.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Corporate social responsibility

Cognizant's philanthropic and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are conducted through the Cognizant employees for the financial and administrative support of the Cognizant Foundation.<ref>CSR World Template:Webarchive. Last accessed on 6 March 2012.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Registered in March 2005 as a "Charitable Company" under the Indian Companies Act, the Cognizant Foundation aims to help "unprivileged members of society gain access to quality education and healthcare by providing financial and technical support; designing and implementing educational and healthcare improvement programs; and partnering with Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), educational institutions, healthcare institutions, government agencies and corporations".

Cognizant has a grassroots corporate social responsibility project called Outreach, through which the volunteer employees lend their expertise for devising skill-building and workforce programs to improve the operations of NGOs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Sponsorships

In January 2021, the newly rebranded Aston Martin Formula One team announced Cognizant as their title sponsor for the 2021 Formula One World Championship and beyond.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 2021, Cognizant signed a sponsorship deal with the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour to become a Global Partner of the Presidents Cup and a title partner of the LPGA Tour’s Founders Cup.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Later in the same year, in April, Cognizant signed an agreement to be SailGP's digital transformation partner.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In June, Cognizant also became the Presenting Partner of THE JOHN SHIPPEN Shoot-Out Inaugural Golf Event.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As of 2024, Cognizant is also the title sponsor of Major League Cricket.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Criticism and controversies

India

Bribery

Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) paid $3.64 million in bribes to Indian government officials on behalf of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. to secure permits, ranging from environmental clearance to power. L&T has made illicit payments and Cognizant reimbursed the money by disguising it as compensation for cost overruns.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Companies Act violations

In March 2019, significant publicity was raised because Cognizant repetitively violated the directives of the Registrar of Companies. The Company "has moved [sic] the Madras High Court fearing possibility of criminal prosecution being launched against it by [the] Registrar of Companies for alleged violation of the provisions of the Companies Act of 2013 and the Companies (Appointment and Disqualification of Directors) Rules of 2014." One of those questions was as to why the company had not disclosed complete information on stock options of its parent holding company — CTS Corporation in the United States — having been given to the employees, including its directors, and the payments running to several hundred crores of rupees (approx US $40 million) having been paid to the parent company in the US towards stock compensating recharge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Discrimination

In 2018, a race discrimination suit was brought: "Three former employees claim they were forced out of their jobs and replaced with 'less qualified' Indians after being poorly treated by their Indian supervisors and colleagues, given unjustifiably low performance ratings and denied promotions." Cognizant said it was "national origin" and not race.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a 2024 retrial, a jury found the company had discriminated and should pay damages<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Layoffs

200 senior executives, above the Director's Level were dismissed because they were not able to catch up with the latest technologies. The number of the executives that were dismissed is unusually high and questions the ability of the company to catch up with the latest technologies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2017, eight employees filed petitions with the labor department, complaining Cognizant forced them to resign as part of a performance-based review. The labor department closed the case in favor of employees and advised company management to give one more opportunity for the petitioners to prove themselves. At the time Cognizant had also rolled out a ‘voluntary separation program’ for directors, associate vice-presidents and senior VP's which compensated them with 6–9 months of their salary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2017, approximately 6000 Cognizant employees in Hyderabad/Bangalore/Chennai lost their job as a part of company's annual performance review process.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On July 1, 2023, Cognizant acquired the Microsoft/Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience US medical scribes division. On January 8, 2024, Cognizant laid off over 700 of those US medical scribes and managers to migrate the US hospital accounts to their Indian scribes division in a rolling/tiered fashion with termination dates at the end of February and March 2024. In addition, approximately 40 of the US employees (thus not triggering the WARN Act, which stipulates a minimum of 50 employees) were terminated immediately on January 8, 2024, with only 1 month's severance pay instead of the 2 months' severance that would have been required by the WARN Act.

Tax evasion

The Income Tax department has frozen Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp's bank accounts and deposits in Chennai and Mumbai for allegedly evading a dividend distribution tax (DDT). A Cognizant spokesman confirmed the report and said in a statement that a court has instructed the tax department not to take further action pending further hearings. Cognizant failed to pay the tax of more than 25 billion rupees ($385 million) in the 2016–17 financial year, according to The Hindu, citing officials from the tax department.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The court asked the company to deposit 15 percent of the disputed tax, amounting to 4.9 billion rupees ($75 million) as security deposit till it decides on the case.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Ireland

Working conditions

In February 2018 the UK and Irish press expressed concerns about contractors employed by Cognizant in Dublin as part of the outsourcing contract with Google about the conditions of employment in relationship to compensation and basic employment allowances like sick leave.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

United States

Corruption

In 2016, Cognizant announced that it was cooperating with US authorities in an investigation related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and carrying out its own probe to determine whether some payments made in India breached the law. The company also said President Gordon Coburn had resigned and would be replaced by Rajeev Mehta.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Crawford & Company lawsuit

Cognizant has been sued by Crawford & Company, the US-based independent providers of insurance claims-handling services, for alleged breach of contract. Cognizant had been mandated by Crawford to implement PeopleSoft Financials software as part of an ERP project called Project Atlas that it was critical to Crawford's operations. Project Atlas included components for both internal operations and client-facing services.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Wage theft and H-1B visa violations

Cognizant leads the ranks of companies receiving H-1B visas from the United States. The company has been steadily increasing its U.S. work force. In January 2011, the company announced plans to expand its U.S. delivery centers, including a new 1,000-person (0.4% of worldwide workforce) facility in Phoenix, Arizona.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2009, an investigation by the US Department of Labor (DoL) found Cognizant in violation of the H-1B provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Administrative Act. The DoL discovered that the company had stolen wages and benefits from 67 of its workers, for which they demanded they repay $509,607 in back wages. Joseph Petrecca, the director of the Wage and Hour Division's Northern New Jersey District Office noted that the company took immediate steps to correct the violations, saying the "level of cooperation sets a standard for others in the industry."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2016, the company was the subject of a lawsuit by workers for Walt Disney World who said workers from India were brought into the United States on H-1B visas in order to replace them.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, in October 2016, federal Judge Gregory A. Presnel of the United States District Court in Orlando dismissed the lawsuits, stating "none of the allegedly false statements put at issue in the complaint are adequate."<ref name="The New York Times">Template:Cite news</ref>

Cognizant was also required to pay $5.7 million in back pay and fines in a U.S. District Court ruling for a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit claimed that Cognizant did not provide quality assurance analysts the full value of their overtime pay.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Working conditions and mental health issues

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also In February 2019, an investigative report by The Verge described poor working conditions in Cognizant's Phoenix, Arizona, office.<ref name="Trauma Floor">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cognizant employees tasked with content moderation for Facebook developed mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, as a result of exposure to graphic violence, hate speech, and conspiracy theories in the videos they were instructed to evaluate.<ref name="Trauma Floor" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Moderators at the Phoenix office reported drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and sexual intercourse in the workplace, and feared retaliation from terminated workers who threatened to harm them.<ref name="Trauma Floor" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In response, a Cognizant representative stated the company would examine the issues in the report.<ref name="Trauma Floor" />

The Verge published a follow-up investigation of Cognizant's Tampa, Florida, office in June 2019.<ref name="Bodies in Seats">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Employees in the Tampa location described working conditions that were worse than the conditions in the Phoenix office.<ref name="Bodies in Seats" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Content moderator Keith Utley suffered a heart attack while working for Cognizant in March 2018 and died in a hospital; the Tampa office lacked an on-site defibrillator.<ref name="Bodies in Seats" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Moderators were required to sign non-disclosure agreements with Cognizant to obtain the job, although three former workers broke the agreements to provide information to The Verge.<ref name="Bodies in Seats" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the Tampa office, workers reported bed bugs, unsanitary work conditions, inadequate mental health resources, sexual harassment, workplace violence, and theft.<ref name="Bodies in Seats" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a result of exposure to videos depicting graphic violence, animal abuse, and child sexual abuse, some employees developed psychological trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder.<ref name="Bodies in Seats" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cognizant sanitized the office before The VergeTemplate:'s visit, a practice the publication described as a "dog-and-pony-show phenomenon".<ref name="Bodies in Seats" /> In response to negative coverage related to its content moderation contracts, a Facebook director indicated that Facebook is in the process of developing a "global resiliency team" that would assist its contractors.<ref name="Bodies in Seats" />

On October 30, 2019, Cognizant announced that it would phase out a portion of its content moderation contracts in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• Disney collusion litigation
• Tech companies in the New York City metropolitan region

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• Template:Official website