Cognizant has seen its Tamil Nadu workforce shrink by approximately 10,000 employees, with the company now directing new hiring toward emerging cities such as Kochi, Indore, and Jaipur, according to a report by the Economic Times HR. The shift signals a deliberate rebalancing away from the state where the company was originally founded.
The US-headquartered IT giant was established in Chennai in 1994 and has long maintained a significant footprint in Tamil Nadu. The headcount reduction, attributed to cost pressures and operational restructuring, is part of Cognizant’s broader NextGen programme. The initiative was launched in 2023 to simplify its operating model and optimise real estate and workforce costs.
As of December 2024, Cognizant employed 336,800 people globally, with over 241,500 based in India. The company has simultaneously been trimming its physical presence in Chennai: Cognizant reduced its office space in India by over 2 million square feet in 2024, representing a 10% decline in its global real estate footprint, and is transitioning from large metropolitan hubs to smaller tier-2 cities such as Bhubaneswar, Indore, and Ahmedabad’s Gift City.
CFO Jatin Dalal has acknowledged the directional change, stating the company is “exiting a few facilities that are no longer being used or those the company does not plan to use” while investing in newer locations to support future growth. The downsizing aligns with Cognizant’s goal to save $100 million annually through real estate optimisation.
The hiring pivot to emerging cities is not incidental. Cognizant’s headcount grew approximately 2% sequentially in Q2 2025, led by the hiring of recent college graduates, with the company leveraging emerging technology hubs to address attrition and future demand. Fresh recruitment drives have listed cities including Kochi, Indore, Bhubaneswar, and Coimbatore as preferred locations, alongside the established metros.
Despite the geographic shift, the company has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to Chennai through infrastructure investment. Cognizant announced plans to set up a 14-acre Cognizant Immersive Learning Centre at its Siruseri campus in Chennai, which is designed to train 100,000 individuals annually, featuring 14,000 seats, smart classrooms, incubator hubs, and residential facilities. It is expected to be completed in three years.
On the financial side, the company has returned to growth mode. Cognizant reported $5.2 billion in Q2 2025 revenue, up 7.2% year-on-year, driven by AI-led initiatives and strong performance in Financial Services and Health Sciences, with bookings surging 18% year-on-year.
The developments at Cognizant reflect a wider industry pattern. Across India’s top IT services firms, workforce consolidation in metro hubs and expansion into tier-2 cities have accelerated as companies pursue cost efficiency, tap into fresher talent pools, and adapt to hybrid work models. For Tamil Nadu, once the undisputed heartland of Indian IT, the recalibration points to a more distributed future for the sector’s geography.
