IT major Cognizant on Tuesday said it has started a programme that aims to offer a 12-week paid experience for technology professionals looking at restarting their careers after a break.The renowned IT conglomerate, Cognizant has started a program that aims to offer a 12-week paid experience for technology professionals looking at restarting their careers after a break.
As per the company, the Cognizant Returnship Program is an India-first initiative and is a way to get diverse talent irrespective of when their last professional role was. The program is focused on providing returners with a supportive environment and access to training, upskilling, mentorship and other resources.
Announcing the initiative, Cognizant India chairman and managing director Rajesh Nambiar said, “We are now extending our D&I (diversity and inclusion) 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. Cognizant has launched the Cognizant Returnship Programme, a unique 12-week paid experience for talented technology professionals looking to restart their careers after a break.”
Nambiar also added that 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.
“These professionals will work with cutting-edge technology through the program and will subsequently be considered for full-time positions at Cognizant,” Nambiar said.
Woman professionals form around 38% of the overall workforce in India and nearly 45% of the company’s workforce in tier-II cities. Cognizant 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 also pledged to put 1,000 high performing women in leadership levels through Propel — its women’s global leadership development initiative that is focused on enabling women at the mid-management level— by the end of 2021.
Source: PTI
