Cognizant officially commences phase one of mass reskilling program
Cognizant has now officially begun its previously-announced reskilling and retraining program. This initial phase will focus on senior to mid-level executives as the New Jersey-headquartered digital services company looks to make good on its commitment to optimize its workforce as a way of reducing costs and enhancing margins. Providing an update as to the current state-of-play, chief financial officer Karen McLoughlin said the firm is currently in the process of selecting the mid- and senior-level employees who will be the first of 5,000 current staff members to participate in the reskilling program as the company looks to reengineer its overall pyramid.
In addition to the retraining initiative, Cognizant has also announced plans to reduce its overall headcount by 12,000 and withdrew from certain business sectors as it looks to make operational savings of up to US$550m, with McLoughlin confident that some US$400m worth of ongoing costs will have been reduced by the end of next year. Although remaining committed to trimming staff in certain areas, the company has also announced plans to extend the size of its sales operation as it looks to increasingly focus on niche deals in the digital services sector.
