Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

@1ino+1svPGO8F the decision is made much higher than ones manager. They find out when HR gives the approval to move ahead and schedule the meeting. Do they submit potential candidate names? Sure. Is it based on who's a rock star? No, it's a beauty contest where the ones the manager just doesn't like often end up on the sh-t list. Also, once on said list you will remain there until you leave, voluntary or otherwise. I've seen people on the LR lists every year even when they've changed roles. The stink of being selected follows you at Cisco forever. Want to avoid selection? Try not to be promoted above grade 10 and do not make any waves whatsoever. Gone are the days when one could speak ones opinion relatively freely (e.g. on cisco-flame).

So, nobody knows? But HR knows. And benefits knows. And Business operations knows (there's one of those under every VP it seems). And legal knows (I suspect they are the tightest lips). And IT knows. And WPR knows. And, and, and...
But yeah, it's tight as a drum...

@2ykv+1svPGO8F I did not understand a word you said

How can it nobody know and business op team know it? Childish post. They shall be the last one same as IC to know. IT people will know, your friend there 100% know which date & time. It’s industry standard. Sick of such ridiculous post. Employees need to bring food on table that’s why they try to ask here, unless you have multiple incomes, you lost this sole income you dead, employer lost one employee still have at least 9 out of 10. What makes people upset here is employer just try to make more profit. If Cisco close door tomorrow I can say nobody will complain since top guys also lose their job. For tomorrow, you guys do not have to guess. There is no LR tomorrow due to it was leaked or figure out everywhere. But soon it comes this summer.

This is a ridiculous post. I’ve been at Cisco 19 years. I’ve been on both sides of the table when it comes to giving and receiving the news. I’ve lived through more LRs than I have fingers to count on. Every one of them, I’ve known about them ahead of time except the first one after Covid when Chuck announced it on the earnings call. That one was a surprise.

LR info isn’t air tight. I’m pretty sure Fran would agree with me. Anyone can read the earnings report and the budget for layoffs was always buried, yet available. Good job making yourself feel important.

Frankly I personally count on LRs quarterly. There is no permanent positions at Cisco. Reframing it this way takes back the power.

Good luck with your job search. May you make more than you did at Cisco! Cheers!

Lol all this Info is already known.

Of course there is stack ranking. One of the key ways your IPF is determined. One of the factors used for layoffs. In my last org managers used a "9 blocker" to assess skills & performance. They shared it with you every year.

Whoa... lots of "insider" info that is common sense knowledge or logic

I totally agree. The problem is barely anyone has common sense here on this board. For them, it's a nice write-up to read.

Whoa... lots of "insider" info that is common sense knowledge or logic

In reality, Cisco doesn't need 10/10 all stars in every role.

A 10/10 of even 5/10 becomes worthless if management doesn't task them to best leverage and grow their talents, and Cisco's mismanagement has destroyed a great deal of talent this way.

When you look at it from a "what damage did they do minus what did they contribute" Cisco has some -1000/10s which really cost Cisco and they rarely address because the whole management chain above them would be in trouble for those kinds of losses.

Having been blessed to work with real 10/10s (not a Cisco) they are extremely rare and won't work at a place like Cisco, so people at Cisco are using a severely distorted baseline to judge capability.

If someone says their manager told them or director told them. Nope.

Can they say explicitly "layoffs are coming on this specific date where these specific people are being laid off?" No. At the site I worked at for the major layoffs we knew well in advance every time, and for layoffs on the largest programs strong hints were given in world wide meetings. Senior leadership moving on or rearranging teams where you are working with the telephone handset cleaners can also be major clues.

When I was there the only thing "Sr. Leadership" saw on the software side were the dashboards which didn't measure whether the code did something useful, or even if it compiled or how many new bugs it introduced so by definition anyone checking in breakage at the fastest rate was declared 10/10 which are the people Cisco kept. You're right, Cisco doesn't care, but if you integrated the losses of bug fixing to the development budget over decades and saw it as a single number you should be horrified.

Was there ever a case at the HR level around HR-Angel1 from blind?

This will be the only time I visit this site and definitely my only post so hopefully

We are your real Cisco family. You should stick with us ...

Compensation Team

We have a compensation team? What are they doing all day? I want to join it!

“I'm a Leader at Cisco and will explain what the OP means. First, Cisco doesn't have an official stack rank system for employees. Anyone who believes this is completely wrong. However, leaders still rank their employees. We have to for award cycles and work place reductions.”

You just completely contradicted yourself there. It sounds exactly like a stack rank.

I'm a Leader at Cisco and will explain what the OP means. First, Cisco doesn't have an official stack rank system for employees. Anyone who believes this is completely wrong. However, leaders still rank their employees. We have to for award cycles and work place reductions. Yes, sometimes we are asked to provide a name from our team but that doesn't mean the person is getting let go. What the OP means is that we aren't told if we have to lose someone from our team until shortly before the cut day. This is all done by design to prevent leaks and lawsuits.

This is total bs that managers do not know who will be impacted in the next LR. After all managers are the ones who rank the employees under them. So if your mangers puts you at the bottom of the list then he/she knows you will be impacted soon.
Cisco does not care if high performers are laid off? Who decides if you are a high performer? Those mangers who do nothing but playing politics?
Of course Cisco does not care if you are a high performer. This is because Cisco is a below average company and does not have the ability to recognize talent.

"Why do layoffs involving females need additional legal review but layoffs involving males don’t? Seems a bit… s-xist. "

Because women are more often victims of s-xual harassment than men and aren't being terminated out of retaliation. If a man is se-----y harassed then the news media doesn't care.

“What really happens is when a female is going to be dismissed there are a few additional safe guards in place that legal reviews to make sure there's no chance of a lawsuit, but otherwise they are treated just like their male counterparts.”

Why do layoffs involving females need additional legal review but layoffs involving males don’t? Seems a bit… s-xist.