Cognizant is a company that specializes in information technology and consulting services.
The information technology field is responsible for designing, developing, implementing, and managing computer-based systems and software.
Cognizant has thousands of employees, and those employees have things to say about working for Cognizant.
Below we will discuss the pros and cons that employees have of working for Cognizant.
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Pros of Working for Cognizant
When working for a company, there are always pros and cons.
Here are some of the pros that employees have reported when working for Cognizant.
1. Good work environment
Cognizant is said to have a good working environment.
The people you work with are typically nice and add to a positive workspace.
Studies have shown that a positive work environment leaves employees feeling good about themselves and the company.
This positivity brings higher quality and productivity to the business, increasing the quality and worth of the company.
Happy employees bring happy clients, which brings in more revenue.
Most employees have agreed that Cognizant has good employees who are fun to work within a professional setting.
2. Great benefits
Many employees have said that Cognizant offers a variety of great benefits.
As an employee, you get full medical coverage, full dental coverage, full vision coverage, and decent paid time off.
Benefits are a good way for businesses to take care of their employees and boost morale.
This is important because if a company’s employees are taken care of, the employees will take care of the company.
People are more likely to apply for a company that offers benefits and good pay over one that doesn’t offer any benefits.
Life happens, and it is good to have those benefits just in case you need them.
3. Decent work/life balance
The work/life balance is pretty good according to employees.
Employees have said that the amount of work and hours provide a good balance for them to get other things done and tend to other commitments outside of their work life.
If a company is working their employees to the ground, they don’t have enough time in the day to tend to other things in their lives, including their families and their own basic needs.
A company can keep their employees working productively by providing a good work/life balance.
4. Independent work
Many employees at Cognizant like the fact that they can do their work independently.
They can pick and choose their projects and get them done by the deadlines.
Other than getting the work done on time and professionally, there are no rules.
Management isn’t breathing down your neck and micromanaging your job at every point.
This is a positive because most people don’t like it when management breathes down their necks at every moment.
As long as you get the projects done by the deadline, you are good to go.
5. Flexible schedule
Rather than being forced to work long, rigid hours, Cognizant allows you to choose your hours.
This remains true as long as you consistently get your projects done on time.
You can use this flexibility to create a schedule that allows you to achieve the perfect work/life balance.
Most employees, depending on the location, report that they had no trouble with the flexibility of the schedule and workload when working at Cognizant.
6. A good place to get hands-on experience
Cognizant is a great starting place for someone to get hands-on experience and training in the industry.
Many employees recommend starting at a company like Cognizant to get experience and then moving up to a company that pays higher rates.
Although the pay is controversial, most people agree that if you are just starting in this industry, working at Cognizant can bring decent hands-on experience that can help you move on to a better company with better pay.
7. Options for continued education and training
Cognizant offers its employees options to continue their education and further develop their careers.
Continued education options can give opportunities for added training to further improve and develop your skills in the industry.
With improved skills comes better quality work and happy clients.
Although many employees like the option to further their training through continued educational options, some of them say that it can be hard to utilize those options.
Cons of Working for Cognizant
Now that we went through some of the pros of working for Cognizant, we will talk about some of the cons of working for Cognizant.
1. The bench system
Cognizant has put in place a system that they refer to as the bench system.
Here’s how the bench system works.
When an employee finishes a project, they are placed on the “bench” until they can find another project.
If they don’t find their own project in a certain amount of time, they eventually get let go.
Unfortunately, employees have to find their own projects and apply to those projects themselves without any help from management.
Most employees don’t like this system because once they are done with a project, their job is on the line.
The employees would rather have a system where management assigns them projects so that they can always have projects available to work on.
2. Pay is low
Some employees have commented that the pay is low when considering other companies with the same starting position.
If you have needs that require a higher paycheck, other companies would probably be a better fit.
Although some employees are unhappy with the low pay, other employees claim that the pay is competitive.
The payment issue depends on the location and the position of the employees.
Fortunately, the pay doesn’t seem to bother some people as much as it does others.
3. No job security
As we mentioned above, Cognizant has implemented a bench system.
This bench system makes it so employees don’t have much job security.
As soon as an employee is done with their current project, they have the added stress of finding another one quickly or losing their job.
That is a lot of pressure on the employees.
Finding and getting accepted for the projects is even harder than doing the project itself.
Unfortunately, when you have to apply for each project and compete with other employees, it can get pretty stressful.
If you have a family to take care of, you have to worry about whether you will be able to keep providing for them or find another job.
4. Poor communication between management and employees
Many employees have complained about the lack of communication from management.
Once you are done with your first project, you have to apply for more projects to complete.
Unfortunately, you have to rely on whether or not the hiring manager decides to answer your application or request.
If they decide not to answer your request, you are at risk of being on the bench and losing your job.
5. Poor transition between projects
As stated above, the main complaints seem to revolve around the bench system that Cognizant has in place.
After you finish your first project, there is a huge lack of transition from one project to the next.
You, as an employee, are responsible for finding your own project before time runs out on the bench.
Rather than management assigning you your next project, you are responsible for finding the project and applying for that project.
If you are not able to find or get accepted for the project within a certain amount of time, you risk losing your job.
Many employees would agree that if there were better transitions between projects, it would greatly reduce the stress of working for Cognizant.
6. Employees are forced to move
Since employees are forced to find their own projects to keep their jobs, sometimes they have to move to find those projects.
Even though employees are forced to move to keep their jobs, Cognizant refuses to compensate them for the cost of moving.
Some employees have reported that they couldn’t find any work in their location, so they have had to move at least once or more to find projects.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the option to take their family and move to a new location just to find another project or two to keep their job.
7. PTO is hard to use
Cognizant claims that they give their employees paid time off, but it isn’t as simple as that.
Due to the work culture of the United States, it is really hard for employees to use their paid time off.
Employees are forced to jump through a bunch of hoops, and even then they might not get to use the PTO that they are entitled to.
Management makes all sorts of excuses as to why employees can’t have the paid time off that they request.
14 Pros and Cons of Working for Cognizant – Summary Table
| Pros of Working for Cognizant | Cons of Working for Cognizant |
|---|---|
| 1. Good work environment | 1. The bench system |
| 2. Great benefits | 2. Pay is low |
| 3. Decent work/life balance | 3. No job security |
| 4. Independent work | 4. Poor communication between management and employees |
| 5. Flexible schedule | 5. Poor transition between projects |
| 6. A good place to get hands-on experience | 6. Employees are forced to move |
| 7. Options for continued education and training | 7. PTO is hard to use |
Should You Work for Cognizant?
Although Cognizant has a lot of pros, such as good benefits, nice coworkers, and flexible schedules, there are a lot of cons that add to the stress of the work environment.
Most employees who work at Cognizant agree that it is only good as a starting point if you even last long enough due to the bench system that they have in place.
The majority of the problems seem to stem from the bench system.
Without the system, working at Cognizant would probably be better than it is right now.
