IT firm Cognizant on Friday said it will give employees who are at the associate level and below in India and the Philippines an additional payment of 25 per cent of base pay for April, in recognition of their extraordinary continuity-of-service efforts amid the Covid-19 outbreak. The move is expected to benefit over 1,30,000 Cognizant employees in India.

Cognizant CEO Brian Humphries in a note to employees said the additional payment will be processed with their April paychecks and that the company will be reviewing this approach monthly.

Describing the pandemic as one of the biggest shocks to the world in decades, Humphries said that Cognizant, like all global companies, is experiencing the effects of this public health emergency on both the demand and fulfilment sides of its business, from London to Mumbai to Manilla and New York.