Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

The whole thing is a game of chicken. They want as many people leaving voluntarily so they don’t have to pay out unemployment because in 47 states the employer pays 100% of the UI tax and it’s cheaper for them to dangle a sh!tty severance package and scare you into taking it than it is to outright lay you off, deplete their UI fund and have their UI tax go up.

Oh Oh I see ... CEP was for the old dinosaurs holding Cisco back ... so with all those old farts out of the way Cisco should become a rocket ship of innovation! So why are you all so worried about getting fired? The future is bright at least until you turn 50.

One problem Cisco has it doesn't know good from bad when it comes to employees. I have seen truly brilliant developers LR'ed while completely clueless dead wood are still collecting pay checks. It is best to get out before you get it in the LR Russian roulette.

@vms+17le7oic Sounds exactly like the Cisco HR lady. She becomes euphoric when announcing more cuts.

The reason is pretty simple. Every employee should bring more value to the company than they cost the company, the higher the ratio the better. While hard to determine with precision, that value rises with good decision making, technical knowledge in a profitable product, high productivity, reliability, good teamwork, etc. The cost usually rises with pay grade and time in grade, which is generally correlated with age.

When a company finds itself with personnel costs that are too high, it should have already fired any employee with a ratio below 1. So next it lays off employees with the lowest ratio, most all above 1. So if it decides it needs to lay off all employees with a ratio below 1.5, it would not make good business sense to pay employees with higher value to cost ratios to leave voluntarily in order to keep a lower ratio employee.

So the good news is that you are considered a higher value employee not eligible for an LR package. Hopefully if you are ready for retirement, you will be eligible for the next Early Retirement package. Good luck.

Giving Voluntary layoffs would be the most id–tic business decision ever.
That's why.

After the 1:1, my manager keeps sending me emails and messages on teams that he wants to talk, that we have to talk at some time and discuss next steps, that I am ignoring his messages, need to reply, that I should be able to find an hour to talk to him/her....is this normal ? Do we need to be in touch ?

A psychopath would have candor and transparency in public weekly updates. Might even post pictures of themself volunteering at second harvest food bank. It's their ability to manipulate people, while having no empathy or emotions.

Essentially most VPs and higher at Cisco.

To @vms+17le7oic from @gbt+17le7oic - Your giddy CEO sounds like a nightmare! But, I don't think Chuck or Fran are even remotely similar. While I disagree with ELT about disallowing those over a certain rank/IPF from taking early retirement, I have the utmost respect for they way they've handled this ordeal. Their candor and transparency during the weekly CiscoTV updates are commendable.

In my case, I was not eligible for voluntary retirement (rank and IPF are too high). I really REALLY wanted to retire but not without a reasonable severance package. Instead, X other people on my team received pink slips. I'd have GLADLY traded places with any of them. At this point, I feel it's a game of Chicken between Cisco and me :-) with Cisco waiting for me to retire of my own volition and me waiting for Cisco to offer a decent severance. I'll continue to do my best work, and still very much enjoy what I do, but I agree that things are out of whack when someone like me WANTS to retire, but others are forced out instead.

The CEP program targeted old people – it was not open to everyone.

What rock have you been hiding other? This is exactly what they did. They announced a plan to reduce expenditures by 1 billion. They provided an early retirement plan and a reduced work hours plan. They are generally not directly laying people off but giving them an option of taking a more generous package now, or a less generous package if they first look for another role within Cisco.

Isn’t that what the CEP program was all about?

I worked for a company years ago, where the CEO would get giddy during layoffs. He loved it! I knew him very well and was high up in the org. I left because he was so sick in the head.

So, yes, there are people in leadership positions that DO get off on hurting others. Psychopaths.

Maybe some executives obtain s-xual arousal from layoffs? A VP once admitted to me, the best part of his job was treating his reports anyway he wanted and the employees having to smile back.

Sounds like BDSM... domination/submission tactics at Cisco.

I am from a different company, but I have asked HR the same question plus a request to get a severance package. The request was denied and HR said too many people asked so they are scared that they would lead to a floodgate being opened since they know they have treated everyone like trash.

Most of the good people are looking for new jobs NOW. I know many with IPFs at the high end of the range that are aggressively reaching out to former colleagues and recruiters. Even very good people get laid off. Layoff culture is never a winning strategy. Only the dumb or just plain lazy aren't pursuing new opportunities.

Because all the good people will leave.