No Raises and Laying People Off left and right - Software Developer Cognizant Employee Review

2.0
Jan 30, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

401K match of 50% of first 6% invested.

Cons

Mass layoffs through their 'Bench Policy'. Once you off-board from a client project, you better pray to God that you find another one (and yes, I mean YOU because you are pretty much on your own finding one) because they only give you 35 days not being on a project and they give you the boot. This isn't considered a 'Layoff' where the news is concerned so it's a backdoor way for them to not have to tell the world/investors that they layed off a WAY bigger percentage of their workforce than they want to admit. I, thankfully have been on a client project consistently but how they have gotten rid of incredibly talented and valuable people based on this policy is a complete joke. I have zero respect for the leadership and I can't wait for the day that I find a better opportunity elsewhere. Another thing, they rate employees on a 1-5 scale at the end of the year and that is supposed to reflect in your raise, well, last year even people rated at a 4 & 5 (the highest) got the same size raise as lower-rated employees. So all of us who broke our backs for this company were basically told that we were worth the same amount as someone who did the bare minimum or even less. Total insult!

Explore other reviews about Cognizant

5.0
May 27, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good projects, challenging work, lots to learn

Cons

The way the bench status is structured

1.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A potential inroad into large client companies (Leave Cognizant ASAP) You aren't unemployed.

Cons

It's a body shop. Clients will view you accordingly. Contractors cannot be trusted with most tasks. You must be siloed (No room for growth) so you don't break anything. Your actual job is to fulfill gaps in the client's grunt work even if out of scope. If you don't, the hammer falls from client and Cognizant. Wages well below industry standards. 1% annual raises only exist because legally they must exist. Takes full advantage of H-1B slave system, where employees' families and homes will be thrown into a furnace if you aren't keeping Cognizant happy no matter what. Employees are complacent in their slavery. Management is just happy to get their extra crumbs and will reinforce the bad culture. C-suite is opaque. If you are familiar with India's caste system you will understand how "lessers" are treated. This also happens in a literal sense, you aren't totally safe just because you are the favored skin tone. Takes full advantage of modern white collar culture. "Your racist actions aren't actually racist if you aren't Caucasian." Expect the uphill battle to be even more steep if you're not Southeast Asian. You will hunt for your own work most of the time. Cognizant is not helpful in any regard. They exist to skim off the top and nothing else.

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