Cognizant plans to create over 1000 jobs in the next five years in Leeds

Cognizant today opened its new Delivery Centre in Leeds to strengthen its services for clients, after seeing rising demand from businesses across the Public Sector and Health industry. The move further cements Cognizant’s commitment to supporting young tech talent and aligning with the UK’s Levelling-Up and North Shoring strategy.

Cognizant first announced its intention to create more than 1,000 new jobs in Leeds over the next five years in September 2021, including at least 200 entry-level positions through its graduate and apprenticeship intake. Leeds was chosen as the location for the new Delivery Centre due to its rich talent pool and proximity to local universities.

As attracting a diverse workforce is at the heart of Cognizant’s UK growth strategy, its entry-level hires will be supported by a long-term commitment to improving social mobility in the Leeds area through programmes that encourage STEM education in primary and secondary schools.

Rohit Gupta, Managing Director UK&I at Cognizant, comments: “For almost 20 years, Cognizant has had a presence in the UK&I, in that time we have grown to make it our second largest market by revenue and now our fastest growing globally.

“Our new Leeds delivery centre will enable us to continue to deliver exceptional work to clients across the UK’s public and private sector who already rely on Cognizant to help them modernise their business and keep up with the pace of digital transformation.

“Expanding our investment in the UK’s talent is another logical and necessary next step for Cognizant and is testament to the palpable energy and dynamism in the country’s tech sector and particularly the emerging workforce in the Leeds area.”

Employees in the new delivery centre will benefit from increased flexibility via hybrid working, enabling them to determine where and when they work as well as newly designed studios and facilities that offer a collaborative working environment.

Cognizant’s commitment to supporting its growing client base and attracting the best local talent is further demonstrated by the appointment of Sarah Tulip as Senior Director – Head of Northern Delivery Centres at Cognizant. Sarah is a well-known figure in the Leeds community both for driving technology teams and organisations, and through her extensive work and commitment of building a fairer and more inclusive digital community in Leeds.

Tulip comments: “This is a hugely exciting project both for Cognizant and for the growth of the digital ecosystem in the Leeds area.

“In particular, we are committed to supporting junior talent as they start their careers in the tech sector. At least a fifth of our new hires in Leeds will be graduates and apprentices and we hope these opportunities will help nurture the huge potential we know exists in this region.”