Cognizant launches program for techies looking to restart careers

IT services major Cognizant on Tuesday announced a returnship program for technology professionals wanting to restart their careers. The programme will be a 12-week paid experience for talented technology professionals looking to restart their careers after a break.

The company said it was now extending its diversity and inclusion (D&I) philosophy beyond the workplace and into lives and careers, supporting those whose personal goals such as taking care of the family, raising a child or pursuing a life calling have resulted in a professional break.

“A break in a professional’s career can give an opportunity to reflect, find areas of focus, and return stronger to the next phase of a professional journey with a renewed sense of purpose. Many such talented professionals looking to return to the workforce are women, and Cognizant’s inaugural cohort includes women taking on engineering management roles in the digital engineering practice,” said Rajesh Nambiar, chairman and MD, Cognizant India.

D&I saw the second-highest score improvement across categories in the company’s 2020 engagement survey, shared Nambiar.

The decision to re-enter the workforce can be both exciting and intimidating. The programme is focused on providing returners with a supportive environment and access to training, upskilling, mentorship and other resources. These professionals will work with cutting-edge technology through the programme and will subsequently be considered for full-time positions at Cognizant. The programme is an innovative way to get diverse talent inside the door, irrespective of when their last professional role was.

The company is also making sure that diversity and inclusion is a source of innovation and creativity. The company has formed several affinity groups led by talented employees across the business. Each of these groups engages internally with employees and externally with clients and partners with a focus on three pillars: attract, hire and engage. All of Cognizant’s affinity groups are open to all employees.

Cognizant is also implementing a new process to ensure interviews represent a more diverse composition of candidates, and that interview panels are diverse as well. Women professionals form around 38 per cent of the company’s overall workforce in India and nearly 45 per cent of its workforce in tier-2 cities. Hence, it has established female hiring and retention goals for company leaders, which are part of the formal annual performance ratings process.

With a sharpened focus on accelerating gender diversity globally in the leadership pipeline, Cognizant has pledged to put 1,000 high performing women in leadership levels through Propel — its signature women’s global leadership development initiative — by the end of 2021.

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