Come back to office or get fired: Cognizant issues major warning to employees

By Team Asianet Newsable | First Published May 17, 2024, 1:39 PM IST

Cognizant, a leading IT services company, has issued a stern warning to its employees regarding the return-to-office policy. The company has made it clear that those who continue to ignore the directive to return to the office despite repeated reminders could face severe disciplinary actions, including termination.

Cognizant, a major IT company has issued a stern warning to its employees and stated that if they fail to obey the work from office order, it could result in their termination. According to media reports, the firm wrote a letter to its workers on April 15, imploring individuals who have failed to begin in-person work despite earlier warnings to take responsibility.

Employees were urged to review earlier emails from corporate executives as they prepared to return to the workplace. Until the beginning of this year, Cognizant did not have such a policy and permitted teams to visit the office based on project needs. This latest direction came many months after the business urged its staff in India to work.

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The letter from the business cited in the story states, "Please note that failure to adhere to the directions will amount to serious misconduct as per company policies and accordingly, appropriate disciplinary action will be initiated against you, which may lead up to termination."

Meanwhile, an individual familiar with the issue told the newspaper that staff had received multiple requests to return to the office from a variety of sources, including the project manager, human resource team, and team manager. Another executive stated that in February, Cognizant sent emails to its workers, particularly those on the bench, informing them that their office attendance was being tracked and reported to upper management.

Another employee added, "Many of my colleagues across cities in India have gotten verbal warnings from HR to return to the office for work if their project requires them to work from the office for a specific number of days. Things are returning to normal, as they were before COVID."

Cognizant ended the March 2024 quarter with 344,400 workers. This was a 3,300 personnel decline from the December 2023 quarter. According to reports, India accounts for 73 percent of Cognizant's workforce, or 254,000 out of 347,700 people.

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