TEANECK, New Jersey, December 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Cognizant , a leading provider of consulting, technology, and business process outsourcing services, today announced it has crossed the 100,000 employee mark. Cognizant's 100,000th employee was hired in the United States as part of the Company's Financial Services segment. The company continues to hire talent aggressively across North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia.

In order to commemorate this milestone, Cognizant will plant 100,000 trees around the world to individually honor each of its 100,000 employees and to support the cause of a greener environment.

"We had 175 employees in 1994 and are proud to have grown to 100,000 in just 16 years," said Francisco D'Souza, President and Chief Executive Officer at Cognizant. "More importantly, we have been able to achieve this while maintaining our cultural DNA of customer-centricity, as underscored by our high customer satisfaction ratings. We have encouraged responsibility, commitment, and excellence across the organization, urging our teams to focus every day on working with our clients to build stronger businesses. On behalf of Cognizant, I would like to thank our employees, past and present, for their contribution to Cognizant's growth and success."

"Over the years, Cognizant has been able to not only attract the best talent, but also provide exciting career opportunities with rapid advancement," said Gordon Coburn, Chief Operating and Financial Officer at Cognizant. "As we redefined the way companies benefit from global services, we have always focused on building a global team of the very best people. We believe that our access to top talent from leading universities and the lateral market, coupled with our unique culture, are among Cognizant's key differentiators."

About Cognizant

Cognizant is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. Cognizant's single-minded passion is to dedicate our global technology and innovation know-how, our industry expertise and worldwide resources to working together with clients to make their businesses stronger. With over 50 global delivery centers and more than 100,000 employees as of December 1, 2010, we combine a unique global delivery model infused with a distinct culture of customer satisfaction. A member of the NASDAQ-100 Index and S&P 500 Index, Cognizant is a Forbes Global 2000 company and a member of the Fortune 1000 and is ranked among the top information technology companies in BusinessWeek's Hot Growth and Top 50 Performers listings. Visit us online at http://www.cognizant.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes statements which may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the accuracy of which are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied include general economic conditions and the factors discussed in our most recent Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cognizant undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE: Cognizant

CONTACT: U.S., Catherine Marenghi, +1-781-223-8673,catherine.marenghi@cognizant.com, or Europe, Michele Cotton,+44(0)07979504927, michele.cotton@cognizant.com, or Asia-Pac, Harsh Kabra,+91-9823273191, harsh.kabra@cognizant.com