When other companies like Microsoft or Amazon declare that they will raise salaries for Software Engineers, Cisco decides to remix the bonus.
What this really does is decrease the IPF's weight in your total compensation hence decreases your total compensation. It also discourages strong performance.
Why can't this company pay just all the competitors?
27 replies (most recent on top)
It's mathematically impossible to have your TTC go lower than the previous year with the remix.
False, you need to spend some time with a spreadsheet, and you’ll see there are scenarios where you’ll be worse off with the remix. What the remix does do, is to make top performers not do as well relatively.
I toyed around with some potential IPFs and the resulting overall comp with and without bonus remix. For me personally, the bonus remix works out quite well.
The bonus remix works out quite well for me. Why is that a reason to down-vote me (+2/-4)?
Those on the sales plan didn’t even have their salaries changed why is that????
... When you write well above, how much above? ...
Same for my team. I was well in the 1.25 - 1.4 range. Never a top performer though. It's hard to be a top performer when the entire team is solid. The manager and most of the team was consistent from 2006 - 2018. A few people joined as it grew/expanded. Lots of contractors joined and were not renewed while top performing contractors got renewed until a req could be approved. Slackers were not tolerated and each person's work was visible to the entire team. The manager tried to give out projects in a rotating basis to allow 1-2 people to shine each year and not be the same person every year.
I think the remix works out for my situation and I do like the fact that I can get that 5% of my total comp a little earlier. I was glad they put together the calculator too.
We will see what happens with the focal though.
I toyed around with some potential IPFs and the resulting overall comp with and without bonus remix. For me personally, the bonus remix works out quite well.
"because the caliber of retained technical talent at other companies is of higher quality"
It isn't. Look at how many average Cisco folks left to join the likes of AWS, Azure and Google. They don't suddenly become geniuses. Not everybody can hire the top 25% duh. Cisco's MRRs are behind competition.
Maybe it is truly because the caliber of retained technical talent at other companies is of higher quality, thus their pay and bonus levels are in place accordingly to support the demand for true technology skill.
Think hard about the above statement. We are playing on a minor league team folks, and getting ready to be drafted back into Little League.
That goes for me too.
"my IPF was well above 100% or 1.0"
Anything under 1.0 signals a problem. When you write well above, how much above? In my team, good performers get 1.25. Solid talent gets 1.4 and the top of the crop gets 1.55.
There’s a reason attrition is soaring….I’m sure this will help, not.
Gr12s are getting screwed. So let me get this right, FK only rewards up to 11 for busting your bu-t for years. Insulting
They said 20 times the bonus shift is not the same as the focal in Q1.
But, as with years past, not everyone gets a pay increase as part of each year's focal. I've had more than a few years at Cisco that my IPF was well above 100% or 1.0 and I received extra bonus, but somehow I didn't get a pay raise.
This new rebalancing just means that performance results in less bonus. A 1.5 (150%) or 2.0 (200%) IPF at 7% is noticeably smaller than the same IPF at 12%. Why should I work harder now? At least I get to leave with that extra 5% since it's paid to me as accrued per pay period instead of losing 12% by getting LR'd & having your manager set your IPF at .25 or some sh-t value.
Yeah, I know where the door is, and this change means I will be walking through it earlier. It means my performance won’t matter much at all, and the timing of my leaving doesn’t matter any more.
The Reward Remix is effective July 31 (the start of FY23) so won't affect the year-end bonus for FY22, typically paid in October. Everyone's salary will increase but their FY23 bonuses will decrease a specified percentage based on grade level. This was based on an employee survey where the majority of employees stated they wanted more money in their paychecks. Based on tenure, IPFs will also go up depending on the number of years w/ the company. Later in Q1, a merits/promotions cycle will take place. Bottom Line: quit your griping and moaning people, and be grateful for what you have. If you don't like it you know where the door is.
Been in Cisco 10 plus years . Only once or twice my bonus was below 100 pc. And both times , it was recession. Otherwise usually managers try to get your bonus more than 100 pc . So IMHO , no bonus means it decreases your total comp.
Only advantage is probably your 401k and espp would increase
I won't be around long enough for this to impact me, but living in these times and hearing about tweaking a bonus plan to compensate for salary inequities just seems sketchy to me. Bonuses are not guaranteed. People need to accept their compensation package or go find one that makes you happy.
@ggo+1gPczk0J They said 20 times the bonus shift is not the same as the focal in Q1.
spot on. Its a scam !
- Saving of money on IPF < 1.0 * number of Cisco employees
- Reduced relative bonus once you get a hike - remember the newly hiked salaries will get lesser % of bonus than the current target bonus numbers. And this saving is per each hike across organization.
Shame !
Executives obtain bonuses by improving the profitability of their org. Why would they want to have pay match inflation? Increased employee compensation would reduce VP bonuses
VPs are paid based on their ability to recruit & retain dirt cheap workers.
On a whole, I am impressed with the plan knowing this is complicated by numerous permutations needing to be covered.
Why would you be impressed? If the intent was to give employees more money due to inflation, they missed their mark. It's a used car sales man's approach to make you think you're getting a good deal.
At the end of the year, assuming you're a new hire, retread, or only had a 100% IPF, your pay had a net zero change. You received more take home money throughout the year, but your total compensation remained the same while the costs of food, gas, utilities and rent went up. That means you LOST money because you didn't get a raise, you just got your money sooner, rather than later.
The only thing I like about it is that less of my bonus pay is dependent upon office politics and the good ole boy network. And, I don't have to worry about a manager lowering my IPF when I get laid off so that he can give extra bonus money to those who survived the annual purge to keep them happy.
They're trying to sell it as a pay raise in Aug when it's just moving money between buckets. It's still the same amount. Granted, if you can take that extra pay and put it into additional ESPP purchases, you can increase the amount of money you're getting a 15% discount on.
@sik+1gPczk0J You are technically correct, but this can also be offset some more by fully leveraging ESPP with short-term sales providing 15+% gains with the increase in salary. Doing this appears to cover an IPF up to 1.25 which seems fair for a new hire.
On a whole, I am impressed with the plan knowing this is complicated by numerous permutations needing to be covered.
That's exactly it. Chuck and his math degree are just continuing the cooks the books and to enrich from the VP/SVP levels up. If you really do the math you lose. A whole lot of people managers. If you've been here 3-7 years I really don't care about an opinion on the changes. I get the lower grades needing money today but the whole decision was based on sjc politics. Make the newbies with less salary happy, give them more than veterans for less capabilities. This happened before too. Same screwing. I believe it was 5% back then so everyone has been hosed 5% up to this last one. Wish they gave us a choice because those that have seen this know how this works out over time. Shame this place is no longer a company. It is a lib policy funding source and another example of getting the sheep to follow along.
Q: It's mathematically impossible to have your TTC go lower than the previous year with the remix.
A: At the point of the transfer, yes. In the future, your TTC can and will go down if your CPF x IPF is > 1 because their contribution to the TTC becomes smaller.
Take a new hire at grade 8. His IPF factor is 100% because he is a new hire. So his salary will increase by 5% in August, but now the bonus is 7% instead of 12%. If next year he gets 150% IPF, he would get a smaller TTC.
It's mathematically impossible to have your TTC go lower than the previous year with the remix.
I like this way better, actually. It is true that it effectively decreases your total pay when CPF or IPF is greater than 1, but it also guards you from bad times when company is doing bad and CPF goes below 1, or if your manager hates you. :)
In addition, (I don't know if holds true for every country) pension contributions by Cisco are based as a percentage of a base salary, not total compensation. Therefore, there will be more that goes to pension contributions.
Another nice thing is that in case you want to leave company before bonus payout time, then you will lose less.
Severance packages are also calculated relative to base salary (e.g 3 months pay) I think, so it will positively affect those.
Lol, no. Watch the replay.
I missed the check-in yesterday - cam someone do tldr?