US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions recruited more employees in the quarter ended June when compared to the top three Indian IT companies. This was a reversal of the last quarter when Tata Consultancy Services led the pack.

The 8,800 net new hires was the highest net addition for the company since the third quarter of 2011.

“This reflects our long-term growth expectations,” said Karen McLoughlin, Chief Financial Officer, Cognizant.

Cultivating a broad skill pool improves Cognizant’s ability to understand and address clients’ business outcomes in areas such as data analytics, said Jennifer Hamel, an analyst with the US-based Technology Business Research, on Cognizant’s hiring.

As social, media, analytics and cloud technologies (SMAC) increase as a share of Cognizant’s business (contributing over $500 million or 6 per cent to corporate revenues in 2013), the company looks to build diverse skills within its workforce to better address client needs.

In addition to technology professionals such as data scientists and industry experts with direct IT experience, Cognizant hires employees with backgrounds in the humanities and business disciplines such as linguists, sociologists, legal experts and business analysts as part of SMAC portfolio, said Hamel.

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