The IT services company Cognizant is considering a major reduction in its global workforce. Reports suggest that between 12,000 and 15,000 jobs could be affected, with a significant share of these cuts expected to be in India.
Cognizant stated that it expects to spend between $230 million and $320 million on severance as part of its newly introduced Project Leap. However, it has not confirmed how many employees will be impacted.
The company currently employs more than 357,000 people worldwide, including over 250,000 in India. Estimates indicate that a large portion of the job reductions may take place in the country.
The estimate of potential job losses is based on general calculations using average salaries and severance practices in different regions, Moneycontrol reported. In India, the average annual salary is assumed to be around Rs 15 lakh. With severance typically equal to about six months’ pay, this amounts to roughly Rs 7.5 lakh per employee. On this basis, the number of affected employees in India could range between 12,000 and 13,000.
In higher-cost regions such as the United States, where average salaries are around $100,000 per year, severance payments usually range from four to six months’ salary, or about $50,000 per employee. As a result, fewer employees would be impacted in these regions for the same level of spending.
When these estimates are applied globally, the total number of affected employees is expected to fall between 12,000 and 15,000. However, these figures are only indicative and may change depending on factors such as salary levels, length of service, and geographic distribution. The final number will depend on how the restructuring is carried out.
“It’s a global programme… various parts of the organization will go through the process,” Cognizant chief executive officer Ravi Kumar S said while speaking to the media after the company’s quarterly results last week.
The company’s leadership also suggested a change in its workforce approach. Kumar said Cognizant is shifting towards “a broader and shorter pyramid” and a model that combines “digital labour and human labour”.
These expected job cuts come at a time of broader changes in the IT services sector, where companies are restructuring due to slower discretionary spending, increasing automation, and the growing use of AI-led delivery models.
