Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

And yet you’re still coming here...?

Haha, yea right. Family member recently passed and I had to have surgery myself shortly afterwards. Got the 1 to 1 call on the day of my birthday. Didn't think anything of it. It 's just them checking in to make sure I am doing OK after surgery..... Nope it's time to pack and go somewhere else.

The contractors in our group have been financially impacted, having to take a 20% cut in pay...basically taking 10 days off without pay in Q4. Grateful for not being laid off during this tough time, but the morale has definitely dropped and we've all been slapped with a reality check.

For all other workers, we are continuing to run the business as always, including starting and/or stopping any projects as dictated by business needs.”

And some managers are using that as an excuse to cull people. In the last year, two parallel teams merged under a single manager while the other manager was LR'd. While the teams stayed functionally separate, the management merged. This month, during the mandatory WFH policy, over half the contractors were terminated from the merged team with the bulk of it coming from the departed manager's staff.

This is not a project stopping, but a "run-the-business" support team that got cut. It's one manager culling everyone he didn't interview and hire, probably so he can replace them with new people that he brings in, rather than the "old guard", or the people who built the monitoring and support processes for the tools they support.

Empire building at it's worst.

Regarding contractors:
“...we have slowed down hiring but do not have a freeze and Cisco is continuing to evaluate all hiring needs. Chuck announced that there will not be a lay off or a plan for a lay off during our mandatory work from home time period. He also announced that we would continue to provide payment for workers employed by Cisco suppliers or independent contractors who require access to a Cisco facility to perform their job. For all other workers, we are continuing to run the business as always, including starting and/or stopping any projects as dictated by business needs.”

Honestly with the loan to customers for purchases and this statement, I think we're good through the summer. I'd still expect a good sized layoff at the end of summer though.

Cisco does not care about employees. It is all about profits. Hundreds of layoffs every few months. Shame on the leaders for taking all this silly pledge for 60 days.

I see a number of them praising these leaders and CEOs donating a small amount.

Chuck said it was for 60 days only. He will reevaluate after 60 days. I think we are about 30 days into that 60 day window.

Probably about that range, more than 20 and less than 30. Anyway, the Q3 earnings call in on May 13th, so something would have to be decided by then.

Live life like it's going to happen to you. Lower your expectations, in general for life; and you will be much happier.

Chuck said it was for 60 days only. He will reevaluate after 60 days. I think we are about 30 days into that 60 day window.

Well, that only applies to employees. Cisco depends on contractors, or "red badges" as they're known as, to fill in teams. Many teams run 50/50 or 60/40 employee-to-contractor ratios in order to handle the workload yet maintain its headcount. Acquisitions mean LR's to bring the headcount back down to its pre-acquisition level.

But Cisco is cutting contractors during this time even though they can work from home just as easily and productively as employees. Most of them probably work harder than employees just to keep their statement of work renewed each quarter.

Thanks, Cisco, for adding to the unemployment surge, the state's economic impact and possibly destroying people's lives. It's difficult to interview and find new work at this time, not to mention switching to new health plans and/or having to decide between rent/mortgage payment or COBRA payment.

oh wow. as we all know, our management team at Cisco we can all trust! hahahahaahha (sarcasm)

they never do job cuts! limited restructures, on the other hand, all day!