Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

Seriously, what do you want the CISCO corp communications say? We sk, market s, and you su* so we are eliminating all those positions? Never waste your time to read those unless you think someday you will be in a position to dish one out to a group under you...

There can be many reasons that an organization announces a layoff.

Two stand out above the rest:

1. A market transition/disruption has caught us out and we have to change
2. Our strategy, or parts of it are not working (see point 1).

In any case, the board needs to hold executives accountable for these layoff actions. There have been too many of them (layoffs) for the company to function properly. It is discouraging and demotivating.

Wow, I don't know what people leader sent that message and I'm so glad I didn't get it.

Taking care of myself and my family means seeking financial assistance? Really? That's the first thing you mention?

Actually, the actions of the CEO and other executives DO define the worth or value of the employees who are being laid off. You've said they're not worth keeping and that they are not a net positive cost. However, your definition is wrong, and we're worth more than you have evaluated us.

The CEO's salary is not a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the employees, laid off or otherwise. But it's also not a reflection of the worth or hard work and dedication of the CEO. CEO's are way overpaid as a whole, but when failing CEO's make millions, successful CEO's have to be paid 10's of millions.

The problem is that we are dealing with sociopaths. They don't care. They are incapable of even understanding what empathy and caring means. They just play the game, say the platitudes, donate to the causes and do as they will which benefits them.

I don’t think anyone here disagrees that layoffs are part of any company’s lifecycle and it’s unreasonable to think a company can grow indefinitely. Contraction is inevitable given bad market conditions.

The disconnect among the ranks, I believe, is that ELT displays no sense of accountability when they make strategic mistakes. They appear immune to the consequences of their own decisions and actions while simultaneously laying off thousands of people.

They tell you to buy Cisco stock at a discount, while they sell millions of dollars worth of their own shares, they hint at the immorality of those supposedly working multiple jobs from home, while many of them sit on multiple corporate boards collecting paychecks and stocks and would have you believe those corporate board positions don’t interfere with their work at Cisco. Are we to believe ELT members attend board meetings on the weekends?

What kind of message does it send to the ranks when ELT (and their family members) is spending a week in Hawaii at a luxury resort while a week later they plan on laying off 4,000 (maybe more) of the ranks they called “family” some months ago. Be cognizant that a layoff just before the holidays is emotional, stressful, and painful to your employees and maybe cancel that trip to Hawaii. This is the true meaning of empathy. ELT needs to cease with the platitudes and buzzwords and lead by example. Show some accountability.

In war, when a general makes strategic mistakes which lead to the deaths of thousands of his soldiers, they are relieved of their command at worst or at best demoted. Unfortunately the message at Cisco is when the “general” messes up, there are no consequences.

I hope ELT takes criticisms to heart and changes course. I want to see Cisco succeed, but success requires true leadership and introspection. Leaders who lead from the front ultimately command the respect of the ranks and in return the ranks will fight tooth and nail to make this company a force to be reckoned with.

"The CEO's salary is not a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the employees who have been let go"

translation = "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"

" The CEO's salary is not a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the employees who have been let go"

I'm not sure what to make of this comment in the letter.

"Instead they share the losses with us by firing us and they take the profits for themselves when they are made. Do not get fooled by the bonus and RSU options....these are merely a modest compensation for the unpaid overtime that we put in to complete projects or to compensate for salaries that otherwise would be well under what the competitors pay"

Exactly and well said. 100%

They preach social responsibility but don't act on it. Frauds.

Is this supposed to comfort us or what? I would say that these layoffs that have been going on for years are as bad as they can be. The whole idea of full time employment is to have us pay taxes and offer to us and to our employer stability.
By conducting regular layoffs and letting people go within less than three to five years Cisco is breaking a social contract. A proper business case or plan should cover at least that long. If they let you go within less than that they should pay you back the difference between your salary and contract rates and you should be able to write off expenses for the respective period as you were simply used as temporary workforce. Of course your benefits should be deducted. The government also should pay you back the deducted taxes. I would like to see if they all like it in that case.
Anyway what is important here is not how everyone of us feels but how Cisco uses us as cattles with no social responsibility and plenty of cynicism.
A socially responsible company will take some losses with the same attitude as the one it has when profits are made. Instead they share the losses with us by firing us and they take the profits for themselves when they are made. Do not get fooled by the bonus and RSU options....these are merely a modest compensation for the unpaid overtime that we put in to complete projects or to compensate for salaries that otherwise would be well under what the competitors pay
So no don't even try to make this pill sweeter as this is not about us it is about YOU

The Golfing is particularly good in Hawaii this time of year; a good round of 18 always warms my holiday spirit!