does that new potential employer call Cisco to check background and hear what? Do they hear "that person is a current Cisco employee, but on LoA (period).? Or do they hear Cisco say: "that person was let go by Cisco, but chose to take a LoA in the mean-time"? I am wondering how the LoA is looked upon but future hiring firms? Good, bad, neutral?
I can't speak to what future hiring firms think about leave of absence, early retirement or limited restructuring, a.k.a. lay-offs, but I can tell you what they'll hear from Cisco if they contact HR.
All a manager, director, VP, SVP or HR is allowed to say is that "John Doe was hired on DD MMM, YYYY and terminated on DD MMM, YYYY. Or, in the case of being on a leave of absence, is still an employee. I don't know if they can or can't state whether or not you're on a leave of absence or not.
I've heard others say that prospective employers don't like hearing you've been laid off, but in my experience when I've had to tell that to interviewers it hasn't seemed to be that much of a negative. Being terminated for cause is an understandable kiss-of-death, but LR's are out of your control. If you spin it as your team/function/business unit was cut, it looks better than saying that you were culled in a company's purge of the bottom 5 or 10%. Saying you were cut because you were older and more expensive than younger workers is not going to help you, and I'd guess, saying you took an early retirement package is pretty much the same because it tells the prospective employer that you're old without them having to ask your age. But, in my case, when I get to a face to face interview, it's obvious that I'm old. That and the year I graduated college.