Extremely Political Environment - Who You Know, Not What You Know - IT Manager Cognizant Employee Review

2.0
Apr 26, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Senior Leadership has changed since 2010 so things may have significantly changed, or will change soon. TriZetto will give you good insight into the Health Insurance industry, if you are not stuck in IT.

Cons

It is a "whose backside can you kiss" contest for promotion and not based on performance rankings and qualifications. Some of the top performers are given all the vital work because the management knows they can trust them to get it done, but the people who do nothing (or actually cause the issues) are promoted over these people because they spend their time "relationship building" instead of actually working. There was a lot of Political infighting at the Senior Leadership Level, but a number of these people are no longer with the company. There are a number of EEOC complaints on the company - might be from the old culture. Not sure if things have changed. It was impossible to get into the Product Development group, even if you had other industry product development/management experience.

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5.0
Jul 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Variety of technology stack and project and lot of learning options.

Cons

Limited remort working oppertunity around.

1.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A potential inroad into large client companies (Leave Cognizant ASAP) You aren't unemployed.

Cons

It's a body shop. Clients will view you accordingly. Contractors cannot be trusted with most tasks. You must be siloed (No room for growth) so you don't break anything. Your actual job is to fulfill gaps in the client's grunt work even if out of scope. If you don't, the hammer falls from client and Cognizant. Wages well below industry standards. 1% annual raises only exist because legally they must exist. Takes full advantage of H-1B slave system, where employees' families and homes will be thrown into a furnace if you aren't keeping Cognizant happy no matter what. Employees are complacent in their slavery. Management is just happy to get their extra crumbs and will reinforce the bad culture. C-suite is opaque. If you are familiar with India's caste system you will understand how "lessers" are treated. This also happens in a literal sense, you aren't totally safe just because you are the favored skin tone. Takes full advantage of modern white collar culture. "Your racist actions aren't actually racist if you aren't Caucasian." Expect the uphill battle to be even more steep if you're not Southeast Asian. You will hunt for your own work most of the time. Cognizant is not helpful in any regard. They exist to skim off the top and nothing else.

3
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