Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is allaying fears that the state’s IT workers will lose their jobs due to the shift to Amazon and Cognizant to manage IT solutions.
There was significant confusion after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that Iowa would move its executive branch data from a legacy IT system to a modern system with Amazon Web Services and that day-to-day IT operations would be managed by Cognizant Government Solutions.
Government employees were notified on June 9 of the termination of their jobs, which created great fear among them. But Reynolds’ office said the laid-off workers will receive “individual competitive job offers” from Cognizant later this month.“Part of the state’s negotiations with Cognizant Government Solutions was to ensure equal or better employment opportunities for the approximately 200 state employees today who provide IT services that will be managed by Cognizant Government Solutions going forward,” Reynolds said in a June 10 statement.
“This ensures continuity and consistency for the IT workforce serving state government and the state agencies that depend on it.
“But the workers are in a state of ignorance, as they do not have a clear idea of their prospective employment status. They just know that they may receive a job offer from Cognizant but they don’t know what the hiring is like.
Department discharge mail, explanation from Cognizant
The workers received a mail from their department that said: “Due to the reorganization, it is necessary for management to reduce the number of its employees.
The layoff plan was prepared and approved in accordance with the rules of the Department of Administrative Services.”They then received an email from Cognizant explaining the company’s hiring process for workers. The letter included a timeline for when employees would need to sign a contract agreeing to provide their employment information to the company if they wanted to receive an offer letter. The deadline for employees to sign the contract is Friday, June 12, just three days after receiving the termination notice.
Employees have been told they will receive offer letters outlining their job description, salary and benefits between June 15 and June 25, with a start date of August 4.
They have until July 10 to accept the offer.
no H-1B visa holders
Reynolds again issued a statement and said there would be no foreigners. “The State of Iowa and Cognizant have been fully committed from the beginning to employing an Iowa workforce for the duration of our engagement. At no time during our negotiations was employment of H-1B visa holders considered. Iowans, and for Iowans, will continue to support the state’s day-to-day IT operations, as they do now,” she said.
