Becky Schmitt resigns from Cognizant CPO position

Becky Schmitt, the company's chief people officer, has announced her resignation and will leave on May 5. Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S informed employees of her departure in an internal memo.

Becky Schmitt resigns from Cognizant CPO position

Following the elimination of mass positions in the base workforce, Cognizant eliminated senior positions in the name of a leadership movement or shuffle post, with CEO Ravi Kumar S taking charge.

Top-level leadership at Cognizant is changing more frequently. Becky Schmitt, the company’s chief people officer, has announced her resignation and will leave on May 5. Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S informed employees of her departure in an internal memo.

Kathy Diaz, senior VP of rewards and HR mergers and acquisitions, will serve as interim CPO until a replacement is found.

When asked about Schmitt’s departure, Cognizant said she was leaving for a different professional opportunity and thanked her for her contributions to improving the employee experience. The company has already begun a thorough search for a new CPO, which will include both internal and external candidates.

Kumar stated in his memo that they will continue to build on recent quarters’ strong progress to increase retention. Schmitt is credited with bringing in initiatives that made Cognizant more employee-centric.

She joined the organization in February 2020 and oversaw the HR function during a time when the company experienced one of the worst attrition rates of more than 30% between 2021 and 2022.

Schmitt’s resignation, according to Phil Fersht, CEO and chief analyst of HFS Research, indicates that the new CEO, Ravi Kumar, is making rapid changes to improve the quality of leadership and reduce bloated costs.

Under the previous CEO, Brian Humphries, who left in 2022, Cognizant experienced numerous top-level exits and had one of the lowest organic growth rates in the IT industry.

Cognizant reported revenue of USD 4.8 billion for the October-December 2022 quarter.

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