Laid off from Cognizant.
Cognizant has budgeted Project Leap in dollars rather than people, up to $270 million for severance and other personnel costs, with no headcount attached to it. North America held 41,600 of its 351,600 employees at the end of 2025, and our tracker holds no Cognizant WARN filing since the start of 2025.
At a glance
What's known about Cognizant severance and layoffs
- $230M to $320M · Project Leap program cost, disclosed
- $200M to $270M · Employee severance and personnel costs in that range
- $84 million · Project Leap charges booked through June 2026
- None in filings, release or call · Headcount reduction Cognizant has stated
- 356,700, up 12,900 in a year · Total headcount, June 30 2026
- 41,600 of 351,600 · North America employees, end of 2025
- None · US WARN filings since the start of 2025, our tracker
Recent Cognizant layoffs
Cognizant books its first $84 million of Project Leap costs
The quarterly report Cognizant filed on July 29, 2026 put $84 million of Project Leap charges on the second quarter, including $56 million of employee separation costs, of which $28 million had been paid out by June 30. The program still carries no company headcount, so the job numbers in circulation remain estimates from outside the company.
Previous rounds
Cognizant layoff history
Cognizant has described Project Leap in dollars rather than in people. When the program arrived in the second quarter of 2026, the company told investors it would cost $230 million to $320 million in total, including $200 million to $270 million of employee severance and other personnel costs. What it didn't publish was a number of jobs. Business Today recorded that Cognizant didn't specify how many employees the restructuring would affect, and the figure of about 4,000, roughly 1 percent of staff, traces back to a Mint report rather than to the company. By May, other reporting modeled the range at 12,000 to 15,000 by dividing projected severance payouts and average pay into the budget.
The filings do show the money moving. Through June 30, 2026 Cognizant had booked $84 million of Project Leap charges, including $56 million of employee separation costs, and had paid out $28 million of that, leaving $28 million accrued. That's the separation spending on record for the first half of the year, against a program the company budgeted at up to $270 million for employee costs. Cognizant also told investors it expected Project Leap to generate $200 million to $300 million of savings within 2026, to be used primarily to fund investments.
The headcount line runs the other way. Cognizant reported 356,700 employees on June 30, 2026, down 900 for the quarter and up 12,900 from a year earlier. On the April 29 call, chief executive Ravi Kumar S called the program an opportunity to "resize our pyramid", said the company had hired around 20,000 freshers in 2025 and planned to hire more in 2026, and put about two-thirds of the savings back into growth with roughly a third toward upskilling. A global total can climb in the same quarter a particular team is cut, which is why the number in the headlines rarely matches what people see inside a business unit.
For US employees the paper trail is thin. At the end of 2025 Cognizant reported 41,600 of its 351,600 employees in North America, against 256,900 in India. Our own tracker holds five Cognizant WARN filings all time, and since the start of 2025 it holds none, 2026 included. A quiet tracker records what crossed a filing threshold rather than how many people lost work, so treat it as one signal and watch our WARN filing tracker for anything new under the company's name.
If you're on an H-1B, find the exact date your employment ceases and calendar it, because the window in the regulations runs from that date. Cognizant told the SEC that its principal US subsidiary "utilizes a high number of skilled workers holding H-1B and L-1 visas", and in September 2025 the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote to its chief executive that the company had approval for 2,493 H-1B hires in fiscal 2025, seventh-largest in the nation. The regulations treat you as maintaining status for up to 60 consecutive days after employment ceases, or until your authorized validity period ends if that comes first, once per validity period, and DHS can cut it short at its discretion. If the company dismissed you rather than you resigning, it's also liable for the reasonable costs of your return transportation abroad. Neither of those turns on how the severance conversation goes.
Reporting on previous Cognizant layoff rounds
2026, Project Leap · A disclosed $230 million to $320 million program with no company headcount attached. Reporting put the figure near 4,000, and later modeling ran to 12,000 or 15,000, both from outside the company
Terms not published. The disclosed range covers severance and other personnel costs globally, across very different labor law.
2023, NextGen · Cognizant said the program was expected to impact about 3,500 employees, roughly 1 percent of its global workforce, primarily non-billable and corporate staff
How Cognizant's layoffs compare to other companies
Cognizant reported 256,900 of its 351,600 employees in India at the end of 2025, against 41,600 in North America. The severance budget is a global one. Our tracker only sees US filings, and it holds none for Cognizant since the start of 2025.
If you're on a visa
Cognizant told the SEC that its main US subsidiary uses a high number of H-1B and L-1 visa holders, and the Senate Judiciary Committee put its fiscal 2025 approvals at 2,493, seventh-largest in the country. If that's your status, the date your employment ceases is the first thing to calendar, because the 60-day rule in the federal regulations runs from it.
What to do after being laid off from Cognizant
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Cognizant's biggest hubs: Texas, New Jersey, California. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Cognizant's hub states run: Texas, New Jersey, California, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
Cognizant layoff and severance questions
What severance does Cognizant pay in layoffs?
No individual terms appear in Cognizant's filings, its earnings release, the April 2026 call or the reporting we track. What's on record is a program budget, $200 million to $270 million for employee severance and other personnel costs across every country it operates in, and an aggregate that size doesn't establish what any one person gets offered. The one document that governs is your own separation agreement. Before you sign it, write down every deadline printed on it, because a package can carry more than one.
How many people is Cognizant actually cutting?
The company has published a budget and a savings target, not a count. The figure of about 4,000, roughly 1 percent of staff, came from a Mint report rather than from Cognizant, and later modeling stretched to 12,000 or 15,000 by dividing severance assumptions into the budget. Treat every one of those as an estimate from outside the company.
I'm at Cognizant on an H-1B. What does a layoff mean for me?
Your status doesn't lapse the moment the job ends. The regulations treat you as maintaining status for up to 60 consecutive days after employment ceases, or until your authorized validity period runs out if that comes first, once per validity period, and DHS can shorten that window at its discretion. The same rule lets an eligible person apply for an extension of stay or a change of status during that period. Severance negotiations don't extend any of it, so if you're weighing either filing, work out which one applies to you and what its deadline is straight away.
Why is there no Cognizant WARN notice for these layoffs?
Our tracker holds five Cognizant filings all time and none since the start of 2025, 2026 included. Most of the company's people work outside the United States, 256,900 of 351,600 in India at the end of 2025 against 41,600 in North America, and the disclosed severance budget is a global one. An empty tracker records what got filed, not proof that nothing happened here.
Does Cognizant have to pay for my flight home if I'm laid off on an H-1B?
If the company dismissed you before your authorized admission period ended, the regulations make the H-1B employer liable for the reasonable costs of return transportation abroad. Quitting changes that, because a worker who leaves before the petition expires isn't treated as dismissed. It covers the travel only, so it sits separately from whatever your severance agreement says.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Cognizant?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Cognizant's biggest U.S. hubs are Texas, New Jersey, California. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Cognizant?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Cognizant?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Cognizant?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.