Cognizant is facing intense criticism after it was revealed that the company offered a salary of Rs 2.5 lakh per annum (LPA) to engineering freshers during a mass hiring campaign. Many social media users have expressed outrage, arguing that such a low salary is inadequate for skilled labour, with one user on X noting that even drivers earn more. Amid the backlash, a Bengaluru-based entrepreneur defended the tech giant, suggesting that the salary should be viewed as a stipend, given that the company is committed to providing proper training.
Vatsal Sanghvi, the founder of 1811 Labs, an experimental studio building micro products mainly in GenAI SaaS, took to X and expressed, "The quality of freshers is often so bad that even Rs 20k/mo is overspending. Most don't know how to communicate professionally, most can't code properly, most don't know how to behave professionally ."
Mr Sanghvi further defended Cognizant's stance. "It is a training stipend, it is an open market - Don't apply if you don't think it's fair, unlike other gigs, plenty of opportunity to grow if these individuals focus on building skill."
He concluded his post by saying, "But you know what - we as a country want free money and the ones sitting in plush offices have an opinion on everything without having an iota of an idea about the ground reality."
See the post here:
The internet users were quick to slam Mr Sanghvi's take. A user wrote, "Instead of complaining about quality of freshers , why don't the companies plan on training them in college itself. Some weekend refresher courses. Have exclusive tie up with few colleges and run your plan their free of cost. It will be a win-win for everyone."
Another user commented, "You are talking as if they are distributing free jobs..there will be interviews and they only recruit candidates who clear them. The issue is with sal offered. This package was same when I joined as fresher way back in 2006. Everyone is pointing about correction w.r.t. inflation," another user commented.
However, there was a section of users who defended Mr Sanghavi's post.
"Poor take. 2.25lpa is well above most jobs and minimum wage should definitely not be per sector. It's simple. If you think it's too low, find another job. If you want 186cr, start the next Cognizant. No one is stopping you," a user wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Cognizant has not responded to the backlash yet.
