Cognizant to ramp up campus hiring in 2026, targets up to 25,000 fresh graduates
India Today
Cognizant plans to step up campus hiring in 2026, betting that AI-driven productivity is creating more room for fresh graduates rather than cutting entry-level roles.
Even as fears grow that artificial intelligence could eat into IT jobs, Cognizant Technology Solutions is heading in a different direction. The company is preparing to hire more young engineers next year, saying that AI is helping fresh graduates become useful on projects faster, not pushing them out.
Cognizant plans to recruit around 24,000 to 25,000 freshers in 2026, stepping up campus hiring after a steady intake this year. The move comes at a time when many IT firms are being cautious about adding people, especially at the entry level.
In 2025, Cognizant hired close to 20,000 fresh graduates. Most of them are already doing client-facing work, while a smaller group is still in training. The company says this quick movement from classrooms to real projects has encouraged it to aim higher for next year.
The hiring plan was outlined after the company announced its latest quarterly results. Chief Financial Officer Jatin Dalal said the company expects fresher hiring to rise by about 20 percent in 2026. “We hired close to 20,000 school graduates in 2025 For next year we plan to increase this by about 20%. So we, we would be very happy to land around 240000-25000 for 2026,” he said.
Cognizant’s management also addressed the growing debate around AI-related job losses. Instead of cutting entry-level roles, the company believes AI tools, automation, and agent-based software are making it easier to divide work into smaller tasks and assign them to junior teams. This allows freshers to contribute sooner than they could in older delivery models.
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