I wonder how the grade system works at Cisco?
For example: if you are grade 8 and take a grade 7 role would you get downgraded?
That would be illogical, would it?
Okay it would also be stupid to take a lower grade job in general.
10 replies (most recent on top)
Every single SA got a huge pay cut not that long ago but their grades didn’t change.
many people accepted being downgraded rather than being LR'd.
For internal roles, you are supposed to be able to apply to roles +/- one pay grade from your current role.
If you're qualified for a role that is one grade higher than yours, you can be promoted into it, or the manager can lower the role's grade to match your grade if they think you can "grow" into it quickly enough.
For roles that are one grade lower than yours, the manager can raise the role one grade to match yours, but that means that their budget is impacted by your higher cost which puts a target on your back for future LRs. In my (limited) experience, I've not heard of or known anyone who took a downgrade to switch jobs, but I'm sure there probably were a lot that were forced into it in order to avoid an LR. I guess taking a pay cut is preferable to getting a severance package and suddenly becoming unemployed, depending on what the job market is like at that time. Thankfully I've never had to decide between the severance package and sudden unemployment vs. transfer/pay cut and continued employment while I look for a new job because I'm pi---d at being almost LR'd.
I was LR'd from a PG 9 role back in '11. I had an opportunity to come back, but it was for a PG 8 role. The manager was able to match, and slightly exceed, my PG 9 median salary, but that put me above the median pay for a PG 8. I was around for 2 yrs until the first LR hit our BU and I was the first one out the door due to the above median pay.
At this point, I'm considering a third term, but again it's for a PG 8 role which means a pay cut or an above median pay which will put that target right back on my back. If offered, I'd consider the above median pay and the LR target because the severance package is much better than some cheap a$$ companies 2-weeks pay plus 1 week per year of service instead of taking a pay cut to a median PG 8 pay so I can stay longer. The way promotions & raises are given out, there's no way I'd get back to where I am now before I was ready to retire, so it's better to take the money up front along with the LR risk.
At csco you can get downgraded if you select a lessor role. Also, if you relocate you can see a reduction in salary. I saw many times a couple of people left Florida for San Diego, then moved back to Florida within 6 months. The person got moving expenses and quite a large bump. However, the manager at the time was a little lax in having HR re-adjust their salary. Sorry, but if it were me I would be sure that I wasn't being taken advantage of by someone gaming the system.
Yes happens all the time when people get LR’d and find another internal role at a lower grade. Seen it many times.
At a competitor, I witnessed a new boss layoff a department to hire her friends. The experienced people that were let go had to scramble for internal transfers.
Most had to accept internal jobs at lower grades to maintain employment. They were never able to get their old pay grades backs after the downgrade.
The level you get during an acquisition is a real problem. You have zero visibility. The unwritten rule was a one level drop (ie VP becomes Dir, Dir becomes Sr Mgr, etc). The one level drop was used across the board, but can be worse. I was brought in as a grade 10, but was handling grade 12 work (and above). I argued my case after I found the job/level descriptions at Cisco, but was ignored. I let it drop, since I was just happy to have a job (it was a really bad employment period for tech folks).
They can downgrade you in your current job, if they desire.
When you come in via acquisition there's very little transparency w/r to grade levels. We don't know how we map to a Cisco equivalent. Can't worry about what grade I'm in as long as the paycheck reflects my skill level.
I saw a manager trying this, but the employee refused. He is still with Cisco, but YMMV.11