The tech giant Cognizant has caused controversy with its strict stance on employees returning to the office. According to LiveMint, the company issued a warning that employees could be terminated if they continued to defy the directive to return to the office, despite repeated reminders.
In a letter dated 15th April, addressed to the workforce, Cognizant reiterated its expectations regarding in-office presence. It urged those who hadn’t complied with the return-to-office mandate, despite earlier warnings, to revisit previous communications from top management regarding office attendance.
The letter stated that failure to adhere to these directives could be seen as serious misconduct under company policies. The repercussions, as per the report, could range from disciplinary action to outright termination.
This development follows a previous directive in February, in which the IT giant mandated its Indian employees to work from the office at least three days a week. In a memo, Ravi Kumar, CEO of Cognizant, stated that the company’s over 2.5 lakh employees in India are expected to work from the office for three days a week, or as their team leaders see fit.
The company was also expected to introduce a new hybrid-work scheduling app for its Indian workforce, to help managers and team leaders create schedules conveniently and reserve rooms or space at the workplace for their teams as required.
India hosts a significant portion of Cognizant’s workforce, with about 2.5 lakh out of about 3.4 lakh employees based there, according to the company’s annual report.
