Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

At my first job out of college the HR staff were lying to a pregnant woman about family leave in front of the whole company so scratch the phrase “according to the law.”

At Cisco I almost considered quitting on my first day after HR’s new hire group cult indoctrination. It was extremely creepy as well as objectively wrong in so many ways. Then the 2001 layoffs came and the New England HR staff were eliminated so bigger layoff events required HR to be flown in from SJ.

While I didn’t experience it at Cisco, there is also “the intervention.” Management does something that destabilizes an entire team, HR holds a first meeting to “understand what’s going on and how to help,” followed by a second meeting to notify the staff “we may have to bring in consultants and they may recommend disbanding the group” only to find the team making it clear they’ll be working for other companies before the consultants can finish their job. I made multiple job jumps off these and got massive pay increases with each so keep your skills up and look at them as an incentive to avoid complacency. The job changes can also help improve and diversify your skills making the next jumps even more fruitful.

15 years ago there were around 50 HR people. 1 SVP. Now you have EVP, SVP’s, VP’s everywhere. This growth was done in the last 15 years while actual SW engineers in Switching/Routing are lower than what we had 15 years ago... and you wonder why there’s no innovation. Chuck needs to take a business class, mathematics and sales bs doesn’t cut it in the real world.

Whenever there is a L/R, HR is rarely affected. As a result, HR is bloated and they will do anything to protect their empire. Now, I hear that they are going to be building an office of "Inclusion and Diversity". They will be hiring a Chief (CIDO) and build a sizable department reporting into HR. It seems like they are going to come out of this stronger and bigger than before COVID.

Whenever there is a L/R, HR is rarely affected. As a result, HR is bloated and they will do anything to protect their empire. Now, I hear that they are going to be building an office of "Inclusion and Diversity". They will be hiring a Chief (CIDO) and build a sizable department reporting into HR. It seems like they are going to come out of this stronger and bigger than before COVID.

In my experience, HR folks also tended to be the most 'outrageous' when on business trips, team dinners, etc. - on one hand they are protecting the company, on the other hand they are raving.

Welcome to the work world. You must be early in career to think HR exists to help employees. Its sole purpose is to prevent lawsuits. Not just at Cisco, but anywhere.

I started at Cisco when Barbara Beck headed up HR. It was a great organization back then. They really helped promote the best company culture I ever saw. HR was a conduit and advocate for good two way IC/mgmnt relations. Then, Barbara retired.

Next up was the worst HR exec ever, Kate DCamp. She single handedly destroyed the IC/mgmnt relationship. Everything she touched turned to c-ap. But, she met Chambers #1 requirement at the time, she came from GE. She was so bad, she got Chambers to essentially do something he never did - admit he made a mistake. When he hired her.

Then came Brian "5 Year Glass Balls" Schipper. He was an improvement though. Where DCamp was actively destructive, Schipper was a useless no-op.

By the time I left, HR's mission was of a single focus - help keep the company from being sued. It became a useless empire.

I had no clue Nike folks were unhappy - just saw their board - it's horrible over there

HR is about process, not about people. There is less compassion and real understanding of people needs there than anywhere else in the organisation... (from someone who has reported directly into both camps).

I was at Cisco for 10+ years, and I physically saw a HR person ONCE in that time. Otherwise, HR was just a mythical creature for me.

HR don't care about the people that build the company. New managers come in and they will ALWAYS take the Management side.

It is a bu$ine$$. Do not be fooled into thinking it is a place for higher moral$