Cognizant plans more layoffs; Wipro eyeing $50 mn automation-only deals

Cognizant may ask employees with no assigned projects or over 8 years of experience to leave. Wipro is banking on Wipro HOLMES team to get more automation-only deals.

Cognizant planning more layoffs

New Jersey-based software services and consultancy firm Cognizant Technology Solutions is planning to lay off a few hundred employees, The Economic Times reported.

The decision is part of the company's plans to cut costs, the report said.

The IT company has also been mulling over increasing the variable component of employees' salaries.

The number of layoffs to be made is still under evaluation and would depend on the growth the company witnesses as the quarter progresses, the report said.

Cognizant would be looking at laying off employees not been assigned a project and those with over eight years of experience, a person aware of the development told The Economic Times.

Fresh graduates who have been given job offers have not yet been given a joining date, another person told ET.

Earlier this month, Cognizant reported a 3.5% rise in quarterly revenue at $4.14 billion during the second quarter of 2019 vis-a-vis the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

In the first quarter of 2019, the company had reported a decline in net income and low revenue growth rate. The company had revised its full-year growth forecast, pegging it at 5% instead of the earlier projected 9%.

Wipro eyes $50 million automation-only deals

Bengaluru-based IT services firm Wipro is eyeing $50 million from automation-only deals, The Economic Times reported.

The company has asked the Wipro HOLMES team, which spearheads the company’s artificial intelligence platform (Wipro HOLMES), to try and get more automation-only deals, the report said.

Wipro has been focusing on digital technology-driven services to drive revenue and growth.

Apart from digital services, the company has also been investing heavily in cloud, cybersecurity and engineering services to ramp up growth numbers.

Over the past few months, Wipro has been wrapping up several deals in the automation sector to facilitate its clients’ operations.  

Wipro recently concluded a five-year deal with Canadian airport Aeroports de Montreal (ADM) for digital transformation by harnessing Wipro HOLMES platform.

The company also collaborated with German software firm Camunda to offer more efficient workflow automation solutions.

In June, Wipro had partnered with San Francisco-based AI operations specialist Moogsoft to deliver better digital transformation services.

In March, the IT services firm had made its AI and automation solutions including HOLMES available on Amazon Web Services.