Stand against Cognizant Layoff!

It is appraisal time again!

All of us who slogged day and night for the whole year, await the rain of incentives and promotions!

main target of this illegal termination process is the middle level employees.

Alas! Following the footsteps of TCS, Syntel, IBM and others it is Cognizant’s turn to see 6,000+ of its workforce off.

Yes, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) has started forcing their employees to resign. This process of forced resignations has been the story in all Cognizant campuses for the past three weeks. The main target of this illegal termination process is the middle level employees. With information available from employees working in CTS, Cognizant might extend this plan to terminate upto 20,000 employees illegally.

This illegal plan is executed for allegedly removing ‘Underperformers’. This is totally against the reality. Performance is measured through the non transparent and unscientific appraisal system.

We are made to believe that if we have a good reporting manager, we are sure to hit a six! In reality the ratings are pre-decided based on the profitability targets of the management and the number of people they chose to send home.
Do the goal-setting and ratings happen as per the prescribed / laid-down process? Is it done in consultation with the concerned employee? No.

Layoff/job-loss/termination does not affect just individuals, it means demolishing the livelihood of 1,000s of families.

In fact, the appraisal process has become an annual ritual to torment the employees with fear of paycuts and joblosses.

Layoff/job-loss/termination does not affect just individuals, it means demolishing the livelihood of 1,000s of families.

Why should we submit to this forced resignation and illegal termination plan of the management?

In spite of showing good growth in revenues in the last quarter and continuing to recruit fresh graduates, CTS management targets mid-level employees to cut costs! This invariably means further increase in work load of the remaining employees! Everything is done with the aim of increasing profitability of the company and enrich the billionaire shareholders.

How to confront this corporate attack on employees?

IT companies combine together as NASSCOM/FICCI/ASSOCHAM, but want us to remain isolated

In the name of job creation, state and central governments offer red carpet welcome to these multinational and Indian corporates and give away subsidies in the form of land, water, electricity and tax exemptions. But they are not coming to the rescue of employees.

IT companies combine together as NASSCOM/FICCI/ASSOCHAM, but want us to remain isolated. They are always together when it comes to crushing our rights. It is time, we also raise our voice collectively for our rights.

What is for them today, we would face tomorrow!

This current situation is comparable to the layoffs that happened in Tata Consultancy Services in 2014. TCS then planned to layoff more than 25,000 employees and it was stopped by the collective fight of IT employees in various cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Friends, it is time we unite and raise our voices against the illegal termination of our colleagues! What is for them today, we would face tomorrow! We need to win our rights with our own hands!

We put forth the following demands

1. Stop the forced resignations and illegal retrenchment of CTS employees with immediate effect.
2. Reinstate all affected employees.
3. Create opportunities to re-skill the employees as per the current trends.