After a couple of turbulent years, New Jersey-based Cognizant Technology Solutions is embracing new strategies to maintain—and hopefully grow—its global market share. Cognizant, a Fortune 500 technology and professional services company, suffered a significant loss when a large European financial services client exited from a significant project.
Additionally, the company saw several high-level resignations and the appointment of Brian Humphries as CEO, the first outsider to take the helm from Cognizant’s founders. Humphries (formerly of Vodafone and Hewlett Packard) brings a refined strategic focus on digital imperatives, such as competing in arenas like Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and digital engineering. To stay competitive, Humphries is emphasizing high-quality talent recruitment, especially in the Indian market, where Cognizant is ranked number six in IT services companies.
Cognizant is already a top recruiter of Indian talent from the science, technology, engineering, and business management fields, hiring over 17,000 new employees from top-tier campuses. As a part of the company’s course correction, CEO Humphries plans to hire at over a 30% rate year-over-year and is implementing new incentive programs and promotion opportunities for the existing workforce.
Cognizant currently employs over 200,000 in its Chennai, India offices, and the renewed workplace recruitment efforts are focused on attracting high-quality students as they enter the workforce. Internship opportunities in India alone, numbering 5,000 in 2020, are being doubled to 10,000 in the new year, placing Cognizant in a strong position to compete in Southeast Asia. In the U.S., where the company is headquartered, Humphries aims for an overall reduction in H1-B visa dependency but hopes instead to build a global network of premium Cognizant talent. While emphasizing the importance of the company’s immense Indian operations, Humphries also hopes to work with President Joe Biden’s administration to reexamine changes to H1-B rules and regulations. Cognizant’s ultimate goal is to support U.S. immigration reform that benefits companies with global interests, like itself, to promote fair competition across the board.
Additionally, Humphries is optimistic about Cognizant’s current and future acquisitions, staying active on the M&A market by procuring IT services enterprises in IoT, cloud computing, and other emerging technologies. The CEO, who helped rescue HP in the 2000s, believes in spending money to make advancements. By acquiring small, specialized IT companies, in addition to hiring the world’s best talent, Cognizant is aiming at a prosperous future.
