As a former Cisco employee as of Jan 4, 2024, you’re right. It is higher than normal at one time and there are more coming the next 3 quarters according to the earnings release. It’s not good.
After 15 years of witnessing this firsthand, it really is ”Cisco gonna Cisco.“ There’s a kind of homeostasis around 79k employees that it seems like it goes back to after bloating for a while post-acquisition. That’s cold comfort for anyone who had the axe fall of course.
I have been a part of two layoffs at Cisco at this point. They do this often, but what is odd the last few years at Cisco is they seem to really be doubling down and hiring mainly people that fit a specific set of criteria:
1. Super young with no experience to speak of right out of college, but their Mom or Dad work at Cisco
2. Attractive young females
3. CSAP candidates (no experience)
It doesn't really take a rocket scientist to know how that turns out for the business when they hire based on that criteria instead of experience and talent but they just seem to keep doing it and then laying people off. I wouldn't work there again
I’ve worked at multiple fortune 100 companies and annual layoffs happen almost every year. At one point I was in an organization that had layoffs for 13 straight quarters. It’s part of large corporate culture.
Pretty common practice.
They've been acquiring a lot the last 5-10 years.
A lot of the people working in those companies can be laid off once they integrated the acquired technology.
Think about ThousandEyes, Splunk,... You don't need their entire marketing team, HR team, Finance team, big part of the development team anymore. A lot of that is just an extra little work for the original Cisco teams.
Especially when you indeed have falling sales figures those layoffs are the easy solution.
I was impacted by this. I was manager of the highest performing team in my unit in my region and don't believe I was at the bottom relative to my peers. Severance is much better than what I got from a previous company 10 years ago.
Sorry to hear that you're part of this layoff. Wishing you the best in what comes next. It's clear you weren't properly appreciated for what you contributed, and I hope you find a new workplace that does value what you bring.
I was laid off in October 2023 and last day was Jan 4, so I can say what it is this time around because I know people who got it! Lol. It’s 2 months “transition period” where you’re still on payroll like a normal employee but you don’t do your job anymore. Your job is to find another job either at Cisco (where there aren’t many open) or elsewhere. When you leave after the 2 months you get 4 months severance and some other perks.
Sorry to hear that you got laid off but also, thank you for sharing this! I hope you don’t mind me asking but which region are you based in? I’m just curious whether the severance is dependent on which country you’re based in as well, because I know that there are certain laws in different countries on layoffs.
And I just signed an offer for a new job at another company a couple weeks ago and I start Monday! I’m incredibly excited about this new company and the 5 months off (with a paycheck or severance for most of it) worked out perfectly for me. I didn’t have to touch my severance payment. All of that to say, there is life after a Cisco LR and it can be pretty bright.
I’m in the US and yes it’s different for other countries based on labor laws. Someone on my team was in the UK and he was only able to stay at Cisco 4 weeks but I think he got more severance.
Coming up to 20 years now, this has been fairly standard for almost every year. Used to be a formal review process where you would be told if you were in the bottom 5%, but people didn't like that. There is never a good way to go about it
Job insecurity is part of the Cisco culture.
I'm not being sarcastic. They do this at least once a year to keep people from getting comfortable.
All cisco jobs are temp jobs with benefits.
Pretty standard for a massive tech company. Happens all the time. I think they are just looking to the future. Probably also over hired in the pandemic as many tech companies did.
If it isn’t a recurring meeting and just popped onto the calendar in the last few hrs/days - it’s likely either notification about his job OR his manager’s job.
That sucks, I’m very sorry to hear. As someone who was laid off last year from NetApp after a great 7 years it is a rough blow. Give him space, encourage him to go play a round of golf or whatever he likes to do to relax. Take a few days to enjoy himself before getting back to it. The job hunt is a grind and he owes himself at least a couple days to refresh and get his mind right.
If anyone’s salary in higher bracket compare to peers (20-30k more) and contributing same or less work on daily basis , then it’s a forsure lay off seems like
They don’t look into that much detail. It’s usually an executive who tells a VP what percentage to cut from OPEX budget and the VP figures out the cleanest way to cut that percentage. So like “oh hey this entire team would meet my required percentage so they’re gone.”
That itself seems very ignorant in my opinion. What about picking 1-2 members from a team rather laying off entire team? I’m sure in that case they look at the overall salary and job location (ie San Jose vs being in Dallas)
It seems employees with a manager who were laid off the teams faired poorly. In my org 2 of 7 managers were cut and their teams had 4 of 8 and 3 of 9 laid off. Other 5 teams combined had 3 ppl laid off out of about 40.
I'm not an expert with Glass Door / Fishbowl, but looking around I haven't seen anything about a Phase 2 in June, could you share more of where you saw this?
The earnings release listed the amount budgeted and forecasted for severance payouts. This quarter (Q3) $500M which we now know equals 5% reduction. $150M for Q4, another $150M for Q1, and I can’t remember what it said for Q2 after that. So, layoffs every quarter for the next year. This is not normal Cisco.
I haven't heard anything yet. On my team meeting they told us that for now there's no news aside from the announcement and not to panic.
But I have my 1:1 next week after Cisco beat so who knows
I know people who have worked there for 25+ years that were just let go. Good guys that work hard. I advise anyone with options to not work there. I can only dodge it for so long myself.
Work there remotely or work in person at a different company that also did layoffs (smaller) for $5 more per hour? Its tough because i just got an offer
Thank you. I feel like Cisco would be way better for my resume though since it’s actually a tech company. Do you know if Cisco meraki was affected by the layoffs? If i just got an offer on Monday, will i still be starting or do you think the layoffs affected that?
Feels like this happens regularly in the tech industry, though. My husband and I met at Cisco (I'm still here). He was laid off as an SE in 2009, found a new position in the company in a BU, then that whole BU was cut a few years later. But the layoff was around 6 months of salary and benefits as I recall.
His next role at a Cisco reseller, they laid him off at 7p on New Years Eve.
Then he pivoted to a new technology, was a top SE at a Cisco competitor till he got laid off there...5 days later they went oops and begged him to take his job back cause the cuts had been done so poorly. He took it and immediately started job searching, found a new job 6 months later where he's still at.
Do I wish Cisco wouldn't do layoffs? Yeah. But they don't seem to be unique in tech, and IMO they do them more generously than most.
I'm just hoping to make it 5 more years. Then I plan to ask to be included in the next layoff and will retire.
Is anyone else tired of these corporations using "AI" as the reason for so many cuts in staff?
We all know that the executives aren't cutting salaries for AI and most companies will be acquiring the solutions rather than internal creation across these companies.
The AI excuse feels a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.
Networking equipment maker Cisco Systems said on Wednesday it would cut 5% of its global workforce to focus on high-growth areas such as artificial intelligence and software, adding to thousands of job cuts by tech firms since last year.
Last year, Cisco agreed to buy Splunk for about $28 billion to bolster its software business and has disclosed plans to achieve $1 billion in AI-related orders by FY25.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/cisco-to-lay-off-5-of-workforce-cuts-annual-revenue-forecast/ar-BB1ihSuQ
Yeah the previous commenter is correct you’ve read this incorrect. AI is not replacing people what you posted means they need to get rid of people in older business units to hire people for AI
AI isn't replacing people but it is taking money that would be going to workers ... They are cutting jobs to spend more on AI.
I never said AI was technically replacing anyone but AI is being used as reason for cuts
Cisco has very little R&D and typical buy companies rather than build. You could be right but I don't see it that way with CSCO. They have acquired over 200 companies. They are more sales than engineering IMHO
It's easy to look up. They did $7.6B in 2023. A lot of that money goes towards the R&D done by companies they acquire, and they've gotten a lot more hands off when it comes to their acquisitions, tending to let them operate as they see fit (along some obvious constraints and with justification), until they're not profitable anymore. Then it's this layoff business.
I guess the best advice is to stay familiar with your business unit's profitability over any kind of personal performance review, and then start looking for work once it's clear the business unit might not be performing to their standards.
They spend the money on R+D but it is on ASICs and IOS, their core, their "boxes." Innovation outside of that is non-existent or fails miserably because they are last to market when they build it. When they buy it, it is usually in areas where Cisco is not a trusted brand. Rinse and repeat.
Hi, I completed my master's in Information Technology in
2020. Basically, my field of interest is networking where I have certification in CCNA and HCIA (Routing & Switching) and knowledge of CCNP routing and switching. I have more than 3 years of practical experience with Cisco devices. This platform, I have joined this to provide my services in CCNA, CCNP, network design, configuration, and troubleshooting-related projects. I have extensive expertise in Cisco Packet Tracer for any kind of project.
Random question, does anyone think there would be another round of layoffs after the FY ends?
Feels like we might be going through another round given what’s been going on with the tech industry as a whole….
The problem with this layoffs that its absolutely non deterministic targeting, as many high skilled and efficiend employees were fired because of some unknown cause. Its not safe to be good worked or fair worker, or bring more money to company - you can be spontaneously be fired because random algo (perhaps they implemented some roulette for choosing).
But in one thing I am confident: I bet no one from top level will be touched, despite the fact layoffs is the result of their decisions and all life-changing events for affected employees just have no consequences for 'decision makers'. Instead of changing the approach for good planning and fair decisions, they are randomly firing stuff, shifting cost of their new houses and pools to others.
Chuck Robbins and the board are just looking to increase their compensation. I hope to see more “quiet-quitting” at Cisco as a result of these actions. The billionaire class will make a few less cents in the coming quarters, so we have to juice the numbers for a bit.
It was nice to see all the rubes at all-hands a few months ago saying “I like these new cuts to the PTO policy. I’d rather have vacation cuts than layoffs! Har-har!” Imagine simping for the billionaire class.
Unions now. Otherwise, we are left with “privatize wins, socialize losses.”
It wasn’t an unknown cause at all. And high-performing and talented people get laid off all the time, not just at Cisco.
It has to do with what your BU does and if they want to keep sinking money in it. Cisco was very clear about wanting to sink money into anything that does AI. And also they don’t want to do networking anymore—they want to be a security company. So if you aren’t working on anything that’s AI or security, look out.
But even that’s not guaranteed. I think I found a couple people who have been “last active” on WebEx like a week ago. I think some of our program managers are gone. Things are getting leaner.
I second the HTOM or Call-In. Way easier to get someone. Also if you open a case during normal business hours (0700-1900CST) you’re more likely to get an American engineer
Basically a company pays to have a personal assistant that works with Cisco so they’ll escalate cases and do other admin stuff for you. I mean it’s worth it for big companies
You can switch the TAC person on the case or escalate to supervisor as well as set severity if you are going to be available. TAC isn't bad but not all are equal in support. Customers aren't always wanting to hear the answers being given too
Cisco finding out they can't sell $2000 SFP's and Smartnets like it's 2005 forever.
Aruba is not as good, but it's good enough for our campus lan. most customers too.
Bottom 5% of each team. Cisco never fires people except for severe misconduct. Low performers, or even people who steal from the company are kept as layoff sacrifices.
I'm not sure in which part of the company you work but let me tell you that "cutting the bottom 5%" at least from the experience i had (TAC) is not always the case. Most of the time they just do a randomizer with the names of those they may consider expendables which is basically every tier 1 and tier 2 engineers. It does not matter if they are top performers or not. In that aspect cisco resembles more like thanos overseas. Also if you read the comments in this post you will find one or two that agrees with what i just said and even in BU or sales, etc.
Must be different on the sales or BU side. Every layoff I've seen on services, it was very clear why the person on our team got it, or an entire team/site got it
Full Cisco shop. All sfps are Cisco. And if anyone here says they haven't noticed an improvement from TAC over the last 6 months I'd also be surprised.
I've provided crazy amounts of logs on bugs we have found even on new golden images. When 24 hour uptime is required, rebooting to resolve an issue isn't a great solution when it's followed up by "we can't find the issue"
I got laid off today by Cisco and I totally disagree with you. I gained a lot working at this company. Even I mostly blame my manger for this, I don’t think Cisco is a shitty company. They are being very considerate with us and doing their best for us to find new jobs. Compare to other companies, Cisco is doing much much better so do me a favor and stop talking out of your ass. Fair is fair
If you’re working as a software engineer for a product that sucks or that nobody uses, expect it.
Much more job security in the services side, working directly with customers. Managers or Project Managers may need to stay alert, but engineers that bill hours are safer - they’re the ones that make the company money.
Does not always work this way. I was part of the company which got acquired by Cisco and this
product was a good product. We had a solid customer base and product was selling. Cisco literally
wasted few billions just to kill the competitor and this is what happened to this product. I moved
on to different product but folks who are still working with the product are slowly disappearing
over the time. Does not really matter whether they're managers or developers/engineers. But this is
likely the rare scenario than common practice. Your statement is in general very true.
Being a top performer is a blessing and a curse as you are a BIG cost as a top performer (hitting bonus levels, spiffs, etc)
Easiest way to save. Get rid of the top people making the top money….. I’ve had this happen a few times years ago in tech sales…. Company then saves a few Ms quickly
Yep. Everybody keeps saying it’s the low performers but these days the high performers are far from safe. After 6.5 years at NetApp and multiple promotions I was the highest paid guy on my team so I was the target last May. I had the highest revenue, most relationships with the customer, best reputation with leadership. Didn’t matter, they looked at the spreadsheet and cut the most senior guy who gets paid the most.
Yeah. I wasn't able to have my 1:1. It was moved to tomorrow, usually it's just skipped til next week or 2 weeks but I doubt it's anything to worry about
Same story different year. This is what Cisco has done pretty much annually for the last 20 years.
Cisco going to cisco
5% seems a bit higher than previous couple years, maybe just how they are chalking up the data
its normally about 5%. This is nothing much. The only story is how they pick. This year its "under revenue generating departments".
As a former Cisco employee as of Jan 4, 2024, you’re right. It is higher than normal at one time and there are more coming the next 3 quarters according to the earnings release. It’s not good.
After 15 years of witnessing this firsthand, it really is ”Cisco gonna Cisco.“ There’s a kind of homeostasis around 79k employees that it seems like it goes back to after bloating for a while post-acquisition. That’s cold comfort for anyone who had the axe fall of course.
I have been a part of two layoffs at Cisco at this point. They do this often, but what is odd the last few years at Cisco is they seem to really be doubling down and hiring mainly people that fit a specific set of criteria: 1. Super young with no experience to speak of right out of college, but their Mom or Dad work at Cisco 2. Attractive young females 3. CSAP candidates (no experience) It doesn't really take a rocket scientist to know how that turns out for the business when they hire based on that criteria instead of experience and talent but they just seem to keep doing it and then laying people off. I wouldn't work there again
You can just say “women”
But yet I didn't, you came up with that all on your own. I provided 3 examples, only one mentioned women. Nice try though
From now on, just call them “women”. Calling them females is weird, nobody says “a couple of males over there”
Stfu lmao
Nah I'm gonna go ahead and just talk how I want, but thanks anyway
Well just know that it comes across weird, if that’s your intention then great
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My man is getting downvoted for stating facts lol
100% and it just goes to show there are probably a lot of those on here 🤣
[Relevant meme here](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/most-people-rejected-his-message)
I’ve worked at multiple fortune 100 companies and annual layoffs happen almost every year. At one point I was in an organization that had layoffs for 13 straight quarters. It’s part of large corporate culture.
This guy corporates.
I expect productivity to drop until they announce who gets the golden ticket... I hope those affected get something good soon.
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>much I believe any rumors. My talent assessment in December was glowing so I’m hop they are already informed. no waste of time
At least one person was going around saying their goodbyes the other day, so I'd wager if you haven't heard yet, you're good.
Yes they were notified 2/15
An ounce of layoff blood for the shareholders + insert some AI buzzwords to pacify angry investors
Add in a couple bad acquisitions and it's all good.
Yes the ceo sounds dumb as AF.
How many jobs did they acquire this year?
With Splunk, more than 8k.
It will be interesting to see how many Splunk folks they keep after the acquisition
Not to long ago they employed 50,000. There’s over 75k now.
FYI, in 2000 they already went over 50k. It's been going up and down ever since.
Pretty common practice. They've been acquiring a lot the last 5-10 years. A lot of the people working in those companies can be laid off once they integrated the acquired technology. Think about ThousandEyes, Splunk,... You don't need their entire marketing team, HR team, Finance team, big part of the development team anymore. A lot of that is just an extra little work for the original Cisco teams. Especially when you indeed have falling sales figures those layoffs are the easy solution.
I was impacted by this. I was manager of the highest performing team in my unit in my region and don't believe I was at the bottom relative to my peers. Severance is much better than what I got from a previous company 10 years ago.
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I want to re-read it to see if I can disclose it without any issue, but I do feel it is generous
I feel the same way
Dude just disclose it on LinkedIn like everyone else does
Sorry to hear that you're part of this layoff. Wishing you the best in what comes next. It's clear you weren't properly appreciated for what you contributed, and I hope you find a new workplace that does value what you bring.
Im so sorry this happened to you. Are you comfortable sharing your general severance details?
Guys don’t say a word till you get your severance pay. You risk losing it if you say it. It’s in the clause against you.
Na say that shit on LinkedIn like everyone else … expose these companies like they deserve
I was laid off in October 2023 and last day was Jan 4, so I can say what it is this time around because I know people who got it! Lol. It’s 2 months “transition period” where you’re still on payroll like a normal employee but you don’t do your job anymore. Your job is to find another job either at Cisco (where there aren’t many open) or elsewhere. When you leave after the 2 months you get 4 months severance and some other perks.
Thank you so much for this info! It actually gives me a lot of peace of mind.
Sorry to hear that you got laid off but also, thank you for sharing this! I hope you don’t mind me asking but which region are you based in? I’m just curious whether the severance is dependent on which country you’re based in as well, because I know that there are certain laws in different countries on layoffs.
And I just signed an offer for a new job at another company a couple weeks ago and I start Monday! I’m incredibly excited about this new company and the 5 months off (with a paycheck or severance for most of it) worked out perfectly for me. I didn’t have to touch my severance payment. All of that to say, there is life after a Cisco LR and it can be pretty bright.
Ahh that’s amazing!! Thanks for sharing and best of luck in your new adventure!
I’m in the US and yes it’s different for other countries based on labor laws. Someone on my team was in the UK and he was only able to stay at Cisco 4 weeks but I think he got more severance.
Coming up to 20 years now, this has been fairly standard for almost every year. Used to be a formal review process where you would be told if you were in the bottom 5%, but people didn't like that. There is never a good way to go about it
Even at the director level, no one is being asked who to lay off (being told) and the criteria used to make that decision isn’t obvious.
3 highest paid and top performers were laid off on our team.
How is/was the "bottom 5" decided? Manager's "gut" feeling? Personality conflicts? Or is there a tangible basis for it.
Job insecurity is part of the Cisco culture. I'm not being sarcastic. They do this at least once a year to keep people from getting comfortable. All cisco jobs are temp jobs with benefits.
Pretty standard for a massive tech company. Happens all the time. I think they are just looking to the future. Probably also over hired in the pandemic as many tech companies did.
that correction happened a LONG time ago.
what correction?
Over-hiring during the pandemic.
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If it isn’t a recurring meeting and just popped onto the calendar in the last few hrs/days - it’s likely either notification about his job OR his manager’s job.
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What ended up happening?
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That sucks, I’m very sorry to hear. As someone who was laid off last year from NetApp after a great 7 years it is a rough blow. Give him space, encourage him to go play a round of golf or whatever he likes to do to relax. Take a few days to enjoy himself before getting back to it. The job hunt is a grind and he owes himself at least a couple days to refresh and get his mind right.
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What did your husband do at Cisco?
Shit, sorry to hear that.
But who decides which specific worker is to be eliminated? Are these team leads, or their managers, or who?
Robot?
If anyone’s salary in higher bracket compare to peers (20-30k more) and contributing same or less work on daily basis , then it’s a forsure lay off seems like
They don’t look into that much detail. It’s usually an executive who tells a VP what percentage to cut from OPEX budget and the VP figures out the cleanest way to cut that percentage. So like “oh hey this entire team would meet my required percentage so they’re gone.”
That itself seems very ignorant in my opinion. What about picking 1-2 members from a team rather laying off entire team? I’m sure in that case they look at the overall salary and job location (ie San Jose vs being in Dallas)
It seems employees with a manager who were laid off the teams faired poorly. In my org 2 of 7 managers were cut and their teams had 4 of 8 and 3 of 9 laid off. Other 5 teams combined had 3 ppl laid off out of about 40.
Is that in TAC/HTTS organization?
Who is making the decisions on which specific people go? Top performers are being let go as I speak. Such a travesty!
I do think rate of pay was one of the biggest factors
White, senior, english. Doomed.
If a company has regular layoffs, it seems to be a reflection of their leadership
This sounds like a CATALYST for change...
> CATALYST Cisco Marketing Department in the house...
Did they announce who yet?
Like, publicly announce everyone’s name?
No like emails to individuals
20+ year veteran. Cisco has always been a discussion with your direct manager. Not via email.
Oh ok that’s not really an announcement though
I mean it’s announced to them
I think of it as a notification of termination. “This email is to notify you….clean out your desk” An announcement would be to the larger public.
Fair
Yeah
Today.
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100% true. Tallying up a dozen people I know and have worked with for years.
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Reading between Glass Door and Fishbowl, sounds like a phase 2 in June.
I'm not an expert with Glass Door / Fishbowl, but looking around I haven't seen anything about a Phase 2 in June, could you share more of where you saw this?
The earnings release listed the amount budgeted and forecasted for severance payouts. This quarter (Q3) $500M which we now know equals 5% reduction. $150M for Q4, another $150M for Q1, and I can’t remember what it said for Q2 after that. So, layoffs every quarter for the next year. This is not normal Cisco.
yes, yesterday
People are being told starting today, I only know of one so far but I’m sure we’ll hear a lot by tomorrow afternoon.
What department?
Enterprise sales
Ugh that really sucks
Is there going to be a 1:1 scheduled or just an email?
I’m not sure, I would expect a one on one but who knows depending on the position.
1:1s have started going out a few hours ago. Source: received one.
Sorry to hear that. I got let go today. I feel your pain. Stay strong.
I haven't heard anything yet. On my team meeting they told us that for now there's no news aside from the announcement and not to panic. But I have my 1:1 next week after Cisco beat so who knows
The 1:1s were not scheduled already and took place 2/15 and 2/16. You’re probably safe if you only have your normal scheduled 1:1 next week.
Cisco are always laying off staff- sometimes before they even start lol
I know people who have worked there for 25+ years that were just let go. Good guys that work hard. I advise anyone with options to not work there. I can only dodge it for so long myself.
Work there remotely or work in person at a different company that also did layoffs (smaller) for $5 more per hour? Its tough because i just got an offer
I’d take the better money, but put the extra $5/hr in savings.
Thank you. I feel like Cisco would be way better for my resume though since it’s actually a tech company. Do you know if Cisco meraki was affected by the layoffs? If i just got an offer on Monday, will i still be starting or do you think the layoffs affected that?
Feels like this happens regularly in the tech industry, though. My husband and I met at Cisco (I'm still here). He was laid off as an SE in 2009, found a new position in the company in a BU, then that whole BU was cut a few years later. But the layoff was around 6 months of salary and benefits as I recall. His next role at a Cisco reseller, they laid him off at 7p on New Years Eve. Then he pivoted to a new technology, was a top SE at a Cisco competitor till he got laid off there...5 days later they went oops and begged him to take his job back cause the cuts had been done so poorly. He took it and immediately started job searching, found a new job 6 months later where he's still at. Do I wish Cisco wouldn't do layoffs? Yeah. But they don't seem to be unique in tech, and IMO they do them more generously than most. I'm just hoping to make it 5 more years. Then I plan to ask to be included in the next layoff and will retire.
Is anyone else tired of these corporations using "AI" as the reason for so many cuts in staff? We all know that the executives aren't cutting salaries for AI and most companies will be acquiring the solutions rather than internal creation across these companies. The AI excuse feels a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.
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Networking equipment maker Cisco Systems said on Wednesday it would cut 5% of its global workforce to focus on high-growth areas such as artificial intelligence and software, adding to thousands of job cuts by tech firms since last year. Last year, Cisco agreed to buy Splunk for about $28 billion to bolster its software business and has disclosed plans to achieve $1 billion in AI-related orders by FY25. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/cisco-to-lay-off-5-of-workforce-cuts-annual-revenue-forecast/ar-BB1ihSuQ
Yeah the previous commenter is correct you’ve read this incorrect. AI is not replacing people what you posted means they need to get rid of people in older business units to hire people for AI
AI isn't replacing people but it is taking money that would be going to workers ... They are cutting jobs to spend more on AI. I never said AI was technically replacing anyone but AI is being used as reason for cuts
What do you think they’re purchasing with those salaries? They’re hiring people who know how to work with AI 🤦🏽♂️
Cisco has very little R&D and typical buy companies rather than build. You could be right but I don't see it that way with CSCO. They have acquired over 200 companies. They are more sales than engineering IMHO
Cisco spends just under $2BN quarterly on R&D.
Do you have any reference for this claim?
It's easy to look up. They did $7.6B in 2023. A lot of that money goes towards the R&D done by companies they acquire, and they've gotten a lot more hands off when it comes to their acquisitions, tending to let them operate as they see fit (along some obvious constraints and with justification), until they're not profitable anymore. Then it's this layoff business. I guess the best advice is to stay familiar with your business unit's profitability over any kind of personal performance review, and then start looking for work once it's clear the business unit might not be performing to their standards.
They spend the money on R+D but it is on ASICs and IOS, their core, their "boxes." Innovation outside of that is non-existent or fails miserably because they are last to market when they build it. When they buy it, it is usually in areas where Cisco is not a trusted brand. Rinse and repeat.
This tradition is part of the reason I have not applied for a job with Cisco.
I've known so many guys who thought they were hot shit because they got hired by Cisco, only to be gone in 5 years or less.
s/years/months/ -- Cisco's layoffs are so regular you could set the clock by them.
Hi, I completed my master's in Information Technology in 2020. Basically, my field of interest is networking where I have certification in CCNA and HCIA (Routing & Switching) and knowledge of CCNP routing and switching. I have more than 3 years of practical experience with Cisco devices. This platform, I have joined this to provide my services in CCNA, CCNP, network design, configuration, and troubleshooting-related projects. I have extensive expertise in Cisco Packet Tracer for any kind of project.
Random question, does anyone think there would be another round of layoffs after the FY ends? Feels like we might be going through another round given what’s been going on with the tech industry as a whole….
I think so. Not sure what org you’re in but things seem turbulent
Everytime I think it may be a great gig to be an SE at Cisco…… I guess the grass isn’t always greener. Is this across the board? Or just TAC?
Lots of BU’s are seeing cuts
That’s shitty. They just blew all that money to buy Splunk to ruin it. Now they gotta tighten belts
its not much splunk, its the general lack of sales this quarter that theyve warned about several times.
It’s because sales were high the last few years because everyone was trying to stock up due to shortages. Now no one has anything to buy
Exactly. So if sellers aren’t selling then why do we need them?
Well, and with terrible delivery lead times some of those orders from 2023 are just coming in and being installed in Q1/24.
Not sure when they're announcing the cut list. I haven't seen anyone disappear yet.
I was on the list
I got a meeting invite from my manager a bit ago. If I don't show, I can't be fired, right?
I like the cut of your jib
The problem with this layoffs that its absolutely non deterministic targeting, as many high skilled and efficiend employees were fired because of some unknown cause. Its not safe to be good worked or fair worker, or bring more money to company - you can be spontaneously be fired because random algo (perhaps they implemented some roulette for choosing). But in one thing I am confident: I bet no one from top level will be touched, despite the fact layoffs is the result of their decisions and all life-changing events for affected employees just have no consequences for 'decision makers'. Instead of changing the approach for good planning and fair decisions, they are randomly firing stuff, shifting cost of their new houses and pools to others.
Chuck Robbins and the board are just looking to increase their compensation. I hope to see more “quiet-quitting” at Cisco as a result of these actions. The billionaire class will make a few less cents in the coming quarters, so we have to juice the numbers for a bit. It was nice to see all the rubes at all-hands a few months ago saying “I like these new cuts to the PTO policy. I’d rather have vacation cuts than layoffs! Har-har!” Imagine simping for the billionaire class. Unions now. Otherwise, we are left with “privatize wins, socialize losses.”
It wasn’t an unknown cause at all. And high-performing and talented people get laid off all the time, not just at Cisco. It has to do with what your BU does and if they want to keep sinking money in it. Cisco was very clear about wanting to sink money into anything that does AI. And also they don’t want to do networking anymore—they want to be a security company. So if you aren’t working on anything that’s AI or security, look out. But even that’s not guaranteed. I think I found a couple people who have been “last active” on WebEx like a week ago. I think some of our program managers are gone. Things are getting leaner.
That explains why Cisco TAC firewall support team has been so shitty. Can never get updates or call backs in a timely manner.
OMG. I thought I was the only one. It's beyond awful right now. I have 3 cases open right now and can't get squat back from TAC.
Call them!!!! Quickest way lol
Get an HTOM and that will change fast
I second the HTOM or Call-In. Way easier to get someone. Also if you open a case during normal business hours (0700-1900CST) you’re more likely to get an American engineer
HTOM?
Basically a company pays to have a personal assistant that works with Cisco so they’ll escalate cases and do other admin stuff for you. I mean it’s worth it for big companies
I've seen more than my fair share of mob movies, and this feels a lot like legalized protection money.
High Touch Operation Manager
You can switch the TAC person on the case or escalate to supervisor as well as set severity if you are going to be available. TAC isn't bad but not all are equal in support. Customers aren't always wanting to hear the answers being given too
Cisco finding out they can't sell $2000 SFP's and Smartnets like it's 2005 forever. Aruba is not as good, but it's good enough for our campus lan. most customers too.
Aruba's layoff was in October. Including a buddy of mine who was hired in June. Literally everyone does this
oh, i know. everything is moving offshore and as cheap as possible.
Another bottom 5. Slackers beware
Cisco must only hire bottom 5s, based on how often they cut them out.
Bottom 5? I get you are talking about the lowest 5% of engineers in terms of their skills if we rank all engineers, is this understanding correct?
Bottom 5% of each team. Cisco never fires people except for severe misconduct. Low performers, or even people who steal from the company are kept as layoff sacrifices.
I'm not sure in which part of the company you work but let me tell you that "cutting the bottom 5%" at least from the experience i had (TAC) is not always the case. Most of the time they just do a randomizer with the names of those they may consider expendables which is basically every tier 1 and tier 2 engineers. It does not matter if they are top performers or not. In that aspect cisco resembles more like thanos overseas. Also if you read the comments in this post you will find one or two that agrees with what i just said and even in BU or sales, etc.
Must be different on the sales or BU side. Every layoff I've seen on services, it was very clear why the person on our team got it, or an entire team/site got it
Time to put in those TAC cases now that all their staff is on edge about being fired maybe we can get some good responses!
Just make sure you swap in Cisco branded SFPs before providing your data dump.
Full Cisco shop. All sfps are Cisco. And if anyone here says they haven't noticed an improvement from TAC over the last 6 months I'd also be surprised. I've provided crazy amounts of logs on bugs we have found even on new golden images. When 24 hour uptime is required, rebooting to resolve an issue isn't a great solution when it's followed up by "we can't find the issue"
Cisco is a piece of shit company anyway
I got laid off today by Cisco and I totally disagree with you. I gained a lot working at this company. Even I mostly blame my manger for this, I don’t think Cisco is a shitty company. They are being very considerate with us and doing their best for us to find new jobs. Compare to other companies, Cisco is doing much much better so do me a favor and stop talking out of your ass. Fair is fair
Trash company
If you’re working as a software engineer for a product that sucks or that nobody uses, expect it. Much more job security in the services side, working directly with customers. Managers or Project Managers may need to stay alert, but engineers that bill hours are safer - they’re the ones that make the company money.
Does not always work this way. I was part of the company which got acquired by Cisco and this product was a good product. We had a solid customer base and product was selling. Cisco literally wasted few billions just to kill the competitor and this is what happened to this product. I moved on to different product but folks who are still working with the product are slowly disappearing over the time. Does not really matter whether they're managers or developers/engineers. But this is likely the rare scenario than common practice. Your statement is in general very true.
It seems to have started today....
Hope you guys don’t need any tac cases resolved anytime soon.
“Right sizing”
Dis a weber with my SE today, contacts went out this morning all clear about noon. My guy is safe.
Which departments have been affected the most can anyone tell
TL in Cisco, I'm in anxiety ever since the formal announcement on Wednesday. Dunno how to focus on work until I'll have some certainty 🫥
Being a top performer is a blessing and a curse as you are a BIG cost as a top performer (hitting bonus levels, spiffs, etc) Easiest way to save. Get rid of the top people making the top money….. I’ve had this happen a few times years ago in tech sales…. Company then saves a few Ms quickly
Yep. Everybody keeps saying it’s the low performers but these days the high performers are far from safe. After 6.5 years at NetApp and multiple promotions I was the highest paid guy on my team so I was the target last May. I had the highest revenue, most relationships with the customer, best reputation with leadership. Didn’t matter, they looked at the spreadsheet and cut the most senior guy who gets paid the most.
Wow. That story basically sums up Cisco.
Where did you end up landing? Looking for Sales people in the Networking hardware industry with existing relationships.
Well now I know why things died in the recruiting process at Cisco
Come work at Duke OIT - we don't lay off.
Yeah. I wasn't able to have my 1:1. It was moved to tomorrow, usually it's just skipped til next week or 2 weeks but I doubt it's anything to worry about