Cognizant has announced plans to hire 20,000 freshers in 2025, aiming to reshape its workforce pyramid to support managed services and AI-driven software development.
The move comes as the company experiences organic growth, prompting a strategic shift in its hiring approach.
CEO Ravi Kumar S emphasized that the new recruits will be instrumental in accelerating Cognizant’s AI-first approach.
He highlighted that their contributions will help the company remain competitive in the evolving IT services landscape.
The Pyramid Strategy: What It Means for Cognizant
Cognizant’s hiring strategy follows a pyramid structure, where a larger number of entry-level employees are onboarded to balance the workforce composition.
This approach helps:
- Reduce salary costs by maintaining a mix of junior and senior professionals.
- Enhance AI-driven delivery models, integrating human and machine-generated code.
- Strengthen managed services capabilities, allowing Cognizant to scale operations efficiently.
The company’s internal developer tool, FlowSource, will play a crucial role in training freshers. It will ensure they quickly adapt to AI-assisted coding from day one.
AI’s Role in Cognizant Workforce Transformation
Cognizant is actively integrating AI-driven solutions into its service delivery.
The company is examining how AI will transform traditional workforce structures.
Executives are debating whether the pyramid model will evolve into a diamond or cylinder as AI adoption advances.
Cognizant is broadening its specialized hiring programs at Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs).
The initiative aims to recruit power programmers and full-stack developers.
Industry-Wide Hiring Trends
Cognizant’s hiring announcement comes at a time when Indian IT firms are cautious about recruitment targets due to uncertainty in demand.
However, the top five IT companies are expected to add between 80,000-84,000 jobs in FY26.
Cognizant’s focus on AI-led delivery models positions it as a leader in next-gen service models, potentially creating new roles beyond traditional engineering skills.
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