Coronavirus impact: Cognizant defers joining dates of campus recruits

Cognizant has delayed joining dates of students who had secured campus placements to the second half of 2020 amid ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, the IT services provider has said that it will honour all outstanding accepted offers, Mint reported. "We remain committed to growth and plan to honour the more than 20,000 campus offers we have made. The timing of our trainees' start date in India will be deferred to Q3 (July-September). This will continue to be dependent on lockdowns and school schedules across India," Brian Humphries, CEO, Cognizant told Mint. The company is also planning to freeze most of its lateral hirings except in sales roles.

Cognizant reported a 3.5 per cent rise in revenue in constant currency in the first quarter of the calendar year 2020. However, the company had indicated that the succeeding quarter would be muted due to coronavirus pandemic and a ransomware attack last month. The company had also said that it would "significantly decrease" costs including corporate overhead, travel, marketing, relocations, and non-commercial lateral hires.

On Monday, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) expressed concerns about large-scale job losses due to economic distress amid coronavirus pandemic. The industry body also urged the government to announce a stimulus package of Rs 9 to 10 lakh crore.

Meanwhile, the total count of confirmed coronavirus cases jumped to 70,756 on Tuesday, according to the latest update by the Union Health Ministry. The total count includes 46,008 active cases, 22,454 recoveries, and 2,293 deaths. India has been under a coronavirus lockdown since March 25.

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