Commitment to closing the gap

Creating an inclusive culture

A diverse workforce drives Cognizant’s exceptional client service and industry-leading growth, fostering an environment that promotes women to leadership roles to bridge the gender pay gap.

As one of the world’s leading professional services companies for the digital era, we are proud to be an employer with a strong focus on providing an inclusive and positive work environment. We are working every day to create conditions for everyone to thrive. We are an employer who is committed to providing an inclusive and positive work environment for all our associates. We believe that continuous improvement is the catalyst for growth and innovation.

We have been certified as a Great Place to Work in Australia for the last 2 years (previously a Top Employer for 5 consecutive years between 2017-2021), named by Fortune magazine on their annual World’s Most Admired Companies list for 12 years running and named, once again, on the Forbes list of Best Employers for Diversity.

The Cognizant Agenda, launched in 2020, encompasses our Purpose, Vision, Bold Moves and Values. One of our Bold Moves is to continue to develop our talent by building a world class, diverse and inclusive team. Our values expressly state that we will create conditions for everyone to thrive and to ensure that Cognizant and all associates are including, enabling and investing in everyone around them. Our Women Empowered program, for example, promotes and celebrates female role models in Cognizant by providing educational, developmental and networking opportunities. It continues to grow and expand.

As Cognizant Australia has over 100 employees, and reports to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), we are required to comply with the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023 that was made to the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (WGE Act) and disclose our median total remuneration and median base salary gender pay gaps.

The gender pay gap is the difference in average earnings between women and men in the workforce. Gender pay gaps are not a comparison of like roles. Instead, they show the difference between the average pay of women and men across organisations, industries, and the workforce as a whole. It is not to be confused with women and men being paid the same for the same, or comparable, job. This is equal pay and has been a legal requirement since 1969. In 2023, we completed a thorough internal gender pay gap review which found that on a like for like basis there was a negligible difference in pay between women and men.

Our median total remuneration gender pay gap of 11.2% and median base salary gender pay gap of 9.6% is less than the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services industry average gender pay gap of 22.8% and less than those of our industry comparison group. Our gender pay gap in Australia has decreased overall since reporting began and currently sits at its lowest. Targeted talent acquisition strategies, HR programs focused on limiting attrition and retaining talent, amplifying the voices of our women in industry, and completing a gender pay gap review have helped us reach this point. However, we still have more work ahead of us, including increasing the representation of women across all levels of our workforce.