Cognizant to give November pay hikes to 80 per cent of eligible staff

Cognizant will give salary hikes to about 80 per cent of eligible employees from November 1, with high single-digit increases for top performers in India. The move follows similar pay revisions by TCS, despite slowing bookings in early 2025

Mumbai: Global Information Technology (IT) major Cognizant announced that around 80 per cent of its eligible employees will receive a salary hike from November. The company indicated that the hike will be in a “single high digit” (7 to 9 per cent) of the employees’ current salary. During its second-quarter earnings, the company had indicated plans to award merit-based pay rises to the vast majority of staff in the second half of 2025.

“Cognizant today said that approximately 80 per cent of its eligible employees will receive a salary hike, effective November 1, 2025. This aligns with its announcement during its second-quarter earnings that it plans to award merit-based salary increases for the vast majority of employees during the second half of 2025,” a company spokesperson said.

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“The salary hikes will be delivered up to, and including, the Senior Associate levels. The amount of these increases will vary, depending on individual performance rating and country. In India, pay increases for our consistently highest performers will be in the high single digits,” the company said.

“Top performers will receive the highest increases. Earlier this year, Cognizant paid most of its associates their highest bonuses in three years,” it further said.

Last week, India’s largest IT services firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), also announced a wage revision for around 80 per cent of its workforce, largely covering mid to junior-level employees. The move came even as the company is preparing to lay off about 12,000 staff, or 2 per cent of its workforce, in 2025.

Cognizant has reported a 7 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) decline in bookings in the first quarter of the calendar year (Q1 CY25). However, trailing 12-month bookings rose 3 per cent YoY to $26.7 billion, boosted by four large deals, each worth over USD 100 million.The company reported revenue of USD 5.1 billion for the first quarter of 2025, representing a 7.5 per cent increase compared to the same period last year (Q1 CY24).