Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

Cisco is stagnated. Forget career growth , when was the last time we heard any technical vision from upper management? Once upon a time Cisco defined the tech future of the world. Now, they just do PowerPoint politics and licensing matrices.

We are being told across the board to take 5 days of PTO before end of Q4. They cannot force you in U.K. but can suggest very forcefully.

Read the stuff about Cisco U.K. I work in U.K. totally agree. Cisco U.K. tech area is devoid of any technical vision or opportunity for techies. It’s an apocalyptic waste. The SED “leads” by marketing gimmic and endless supply of koolaid and meaningless WebEx calls titled starting with “Tech…”. No vision, no career path. As soon as you get to grade 11, start to look for a change. There is no future after that. I am handing in my papers in July.

Plenty of wankers that complaint a lot but do nothing. I wonder why you are still in Cisco, maybe because you are so useless that nobody else will hire you? And yeah the guy who posted internally has been asking for years what he is going to get.

@5omi+1gZWvQXN
Consider this: If they indeed have left for greener pastures then maybe the issue is with you and not them. A big hint for that is your claim of a long career at Cisco. If you were smart , you would not have a long career there, you’d have left for greener pastures a long time ago yourself ( as did I after a couple of years at Cisco). Those people were likely too smart for you to comprehend.

In terms of the guy who allegedly posted this internally claiming that customers make their decisions after reading this site: he is clearly a mo--n and any management with an ounce of sense in their head would reconsider keeping him in a customer facing role. People with pi$$ poor professional sense such as this are loose cannons and always a threat to any corporation in a customer facing role. These sort of people are part of the problem no matter how bad the management may be.

The way I look at it is TeamSpace is a toilet. The stuff on this site is sh-t. Why not put sh-t in the toilet?? Makes total sense to me, what's the problem??

If lack of minimal ability to think coherently was grounds for dismissal, there would be less than a couple thousands folks working at Cisco. Or pretty much anywhere else. I've met very smart folks over my long career. I've also met very thick people that made we wonder whether this was an episode of candid camera. And many of those people have departed Cisco for greener pastures.

Spot on about code if professional conduct. Bumping it up because appears some people defending this mo--n are unable to read a whole message to get the right context.

“ One of those is to not promote links from conspiracy sites claiming the “customers are looking at it”! If a Cisco presales employee thinks that customers look at this site in order to arrive at business decisions, then he deserves the sack - immediately - due to lack of minimal ability to think coherently, professionally and logically. How can one , whose business perception is as poor as that, function in a customer facing role?! This is a real issue at Cisco UKI - they’ll just dump anyone in front of a customer and call him a professional.”

“ what is that code? you are not allowed to share a link from external website internally? ”
To go to upper management in an internal WebEx group and claim that “customers and partners” are “reading this” is an example of downright poor professional judgement, if not a ludicrous attempt to attract attention. No customer or partner , in their right minds, read this website to make a vendor decision. That kind of mindset , from a customer facing person is absolutely astounding.

“ Is it cause for employment termination? Not in my book. It's just making you look like a complete tool that can't be trusted with anything serious.”

Let’s take a breather. What you wrote is right. However, someone else, who presumably knows this “immature” post maniac, has written that he belongs to a customer facing role. Now, do you want such a fool to be talking to our customers? I agree with most of what you say . But can a person whose judgement is as poor as this , be trusted to address customers ? With his sense of responsibility and total lack of any professional judgement? Would any responsible management want that? I say no. Professionalism is not just ability to write IOS codes, there’s a lot more to it. He’ll only survive if the U.K. management is truly as incompetent as people here say it is.

It seems like a lot of people from the same UK team is visiting this site and calling "unprofessional" to someone who posted this link internally. Few of them are posting here and relaying their emotions towards him so why is he wrong when you are doing the same thing here? Dont be a puppet of your current UK SED management - Its all toxic culture and its only about them. Taking G12's out, not promoting the right people, only a-s lickers are allowed to become SEM's, just smile and say everything is ok, losing deals and promoting themselves only :-).

I think its a lack of judgement on his side and may be his pure emotions towards his management - which he probably supports - and wanted to warn them. Is this a punishable ACT? - he-l NO.

If someone goes against him and try to sack him or even warn him and put on PIP - this will show how weak the current management is and you are not even allowed to share something openly. Where is the transparency and open culture? If this bothers someone - please have a 1:1 chat with the person who shared this internally in Cisco WX teams space. The person is not wrong by posting a link internally but yes, he could have gotten a bit carried away that could be due to his pure emotions towards the management which he probably likes.

"There is a code of professionalism that should never be violated in a work environment" - what is that code? you are not allowed to share a link from external website internally? When all news around Cisco is posted from external 3rd party sites good or bad - why not from this website?

Punishing or reprimanding someone for visiting this website isn't only very immature, it's very likely illegal anyway. As long as don't disclose confidential information and as long as you're not disparaging someone that can be identified, i don't see a problem. Now copy/pasting from this site to WebEx is a serious lack of judgement. Nothing posted here is verified. Posts are anonymous, and half of them are complete nonsense anyway. You might as well go to WebEx and say "Q is taking down AWS next week because they're hosting pedophile-friendly sites, so be ready!", it's got similar value and trustworthiness. Is it cause for employment termination? Not in my book. It's just making you look like a complete tool that can't be trusted with anything serious.

Punishing someone for sharing or visiting this thread? Is this not a prime example of the toxic leadership in UK that is mentioned above? Sounds like behaviour from Communist Russia?

A well known immature person from UK&I has gone and posted a link to this chat in the UK&I WebEx Teamspace. The SED being discussed here is the moderator of that specific team space . Before posting, the person did not stop to think of the consequences of his action: if this rumour is true, then he went and endangered the career of everyone related . If it is untrue then he is just creating chaos for no reason at all.

Either way a thoroughly irresponsible act to post links from layoff sites in internal teamspace. No wonder UK is such a toxic place to work. With people like these there is no need for management to mess up your career. A thoroughly unprofessional and irresponsible act.

When I first started as an SA, there was so much room for growth on the SE career path. It's been all but flattened now and many of us are left thinking-- where is there to go but OUT? Let's look at the options. CSE role? - GONE. TSA role (as we knew it)? - GONE. Click2Expert? - No Way. PSS? - Sure, if I constantly want to worry about an LR. SEM? - I couldn't live with myself. BU/TME? - I don't love any product enough to go there. AM? - Aren't I already doing that job, just not paid the same?

the only effective way to get DE was to be in a BU, writing Cisco Press books and creating patents

That’s no longer enough, barely gets one to PE. The numbers of DEs is capped, so somebody has to die to get it.

Exactly, career progression in the SE chain is pretty much non-existent.

the only effective way to get DE was to be in a BU, writing Cisco Press books and creating patents

That’s no longer enough, barely gets one to PE. The numbers of DEs is capped, so somebody has to die to get it.

@1zis

““ Apparently" means it's just a rumor.If it's wrong, you'll have exposed bad management.”

It’s not a rumour. Common knowledge out here and recently reconfirmed as this was told to someone who is quite well liked.

About exposing bad management: nothing to expose there . Entire Cisco UKI knows how poor the management is. Run mafia style.

@1zbx+1gZWvQXN
PE/DE has to be nominated by their line management. When my colleague was invited to a “career path” call, he raised the possibility and was told right out that such nominations are out of question because the UKI SED has decide that he will not have any “budget” for Grade 12. Leading to no PE nomination and the comment that “deserving” has nothing to do with being promoted - it’s a management “priority”.

"Apparently SED has made a decision that no one will be promoted above that"

It wasn’t an SED decision, it is an informal ‘policy’ agreed by successive UKI leadership teams.

UKI was, is, and will continue to be a toxic environment. Most capable people in the technical arena realise this and move out fairly swiftly.

That’s not to say UKI is unique, I’ve worked in UKI, EMEAR, and Global teams and I see similar issues in many countries.

In Cisco U.K. SE organisation we have been capped at Grade 11. Apparently SED has made a decision that no one will be promoted above that. But it is not advertised . When Tim Carnes did his song and dance about becoming a PE and DE last November no one in the U.K. mgmt ever said that does not apply to us. We are being kept in a world full of lies and deception.

To top it all, a colleague of mine was told point blank by his manager: promoting someone has nothing to do with “deserving”, but has to do with mgmt “priorities” without defining what those “priorities” are. Welcome to Cisco a la Boris Johnson, where nepotism and a$$kissing is the way to get a career.

That’s been the position for the SE community in UKI for at least ten years, so back to PS’s time. For most, the only way to get G12 was to move out of the UKI structure. I can only think of two SEs that were promoted to G12 locally, both in PubSec and both now retired (CB and MB). There are a few G12s in the UKI SE community but, in most cases, they left UKI to get it and then come back. There were also a couple of G12 SSEMs (BB and one other) but I think they’ve left the company.

PE/DE appointments are done at a global/theatre level and, to be honest, they are more political appointments than technical. You might be the greatest SE of all time but if you can’t suck up and get patronage you’ll never make PE/DE. Remember PE was created by MK because the only effective way to get DE was to be in a BU, writing Cisco Press books and creating patents. It was almost impossible for a field-based SE to make DE. PE was supposed to provide career progression for the field. It hasn’t worked out like that in practice.

"Apparently SED has made a decision that no one will be promoted above that"

1. "Apparently" means it's just a rumor. SEDs simply do not have the authority to enforce a grade cap. If you suspect there's some truth behind the rumor, take it to Wendy and HR. If it turns out to be true, look for another job and leave - there's no point working your ash off when there's no carrot at the end of the stick. If it's wrong, you'll have exposed bad management.

2. When you work for a good manager, promoting is related to deserving. Bad managers ruin the party for everybody.

In Cisco U.K. SE organisation we have been capped at Grade 11. Apparently SED has made a decision that no one will be promoted above that. But it is not advertised . When Tim Carnes did his song and dance about becoming a PE and DE last November no one in the U.K. mgmt ever said that does not apply to us. We are being kept in a world full of lies and deception.

To top it all, a colleague of mine was told point blank by his manager: promoting someone has nothing to do with “deserving”, but has to do with mgmt “priorities” without defining what those “priorities” are. Welcome to Cisco a la Boris Johnson, where nepotism and a$$kissing is the way to get a career.

No. Look outside of Cisco for companies that offer career growth and a lot more.