Mon Mar 03 14:10:00 UTC 2025: **Cognizant Delays, Then Announces, Salary Hikes Amidst High Attrition**
**Kolkata, India – March 7, 2025** – Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. has announced annual salary increases for its employees, effective August 1, 2025. This marks the second consecutive year the company has delayed salary hikes by at least five months. The announcement, made during a company town hall, comes as Cognizant grapples with higher-than-average employee attrition.
Bonuses for eligible employees will be distributed in March, according to an internal memo. The company typically awards both bonuses and salary increases around March, but CEO S. Ravi Kumar has shifted the schedule since taking the helm.
Cognizant’s voluntary attrition rate reached 15.9% at the end of 2024, exceeding that of competitors like TCS (13%), Infosys (13.7%), and HCLTech (13.2%). The company attributes the high attrition, in part, to recent cost-cutting measures including layoffs and office space reductions. While Cognizant’s full-year revenue grew in 2024, much of this growth was driven by acquisitions, rather than organic business growth.
The early announcement of the salary hikes is seen as an attempt to improve employee morale and retention. However, some employees and former executives express concern over the delay and the need for such a preemptive announcement.
The delay in salary increases is not unique to Cognizant. Several other major IT service providers in India have also delayed or staggered their salary hikes, citing uncertain macroeconomic conditions and a need to protect operating margins. Industry expert Peter Bendor-Samuel of Everest Group suggests that uncertainty surrounding the new US administration is contributing to client hesitancy and project delays, impacting the entire sector.
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