In the past, managers here really cared about having motivated people. Back then, there was a lot of talk about the importance of being the leader in the industry. I believe that today my manager is not at all interested in how motivated we are. Cisco is preoccupied only with shareholders while easily surrendering the best people to the competition. When they realize that this is a terrible strategy, I hope it will not be too late.
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No.
Cisco used to be run by engineers. Then, it hired MBAs to ensure "shareholder value". A lot of horror in shareholder value. And you can't spell horror without " hr" - another self-eating ice cream cone.
People if you work for a company you will always be a salary slave. If you choose to be one there are worse places to be than Cisco.
As a leader myself (line manager) I do care very much for motivating people its really damn hard with the budgets at times and with restrictions on travel budgets, team meetings but I try to keep people on track with their careers (whats best for them or to their strengths) even if it means them eventually leaving the team. Such is life and Cisco is going through some weird phase right now which may or not be corrected. My advice is to use the time to improve yourself, take trainings, do certs work on yourself and good things might happen either at Cisco or elsewhere.. Being a complainer means your probably part of the problem because the good ones that are frustrated leave and dont have time for posting on websites..
SEVT was from when Cisco used to be a technical company. Then watered down to Account VT, and then no VT. The SE job is now to chase license issues, lead times, and sideways TAC cases.
SEVTs??? wtf is that?
If you don’t know, you don’t need to know.
SEVTs??? wtf is that?
They’ve also, effectively, ki---d off in-person SEVTs. They were a great way of sharing technical knowledge and also networking with your peers. Virtual events just do not work.
The doublespeak from Cisco and my business unit are frustrating. -15% on my bonus, but my business unit talks about how we crushed it and everyone did great. Like wtf?
Let me guess. You work in CX. V2MOM said we're doing great and set records in one breath and in the next said we had record orders and backlogs. Record backlogs are NOT a good record to have. Customers will cancel those orders and go to suppliers who CAN deliver.
My motivation as a software engineer has been cratering. The doublespeak from Cisco and my business unit are frustrating. -15% on my bonus, but my business unit talks about how we crushed it and everyone did great. Like wtf?
Your experience is much like mine.
The irony is, by letting dedicated and skilled technical people, who have truly shown the commitment to support Cisco; the harm is two fold.
First your skills and mindset; that could easily be harnessed to help in other technical areas of Cisco, outside the area of your restructure, are instead shown the door.
Secondarily, the skill and mindset you used to keep your Cisco department going; are instead absorbed into another company. In that other company, you have influence and power to help that company grow; by using other non-Cisco vendor platform choices.
Why spend your life energy and passion for technology, at a company who's supposed leadership doesn't give a $h!t about much more than lining their pockets during a managed decline.
The level of talent our team has been able to attract has dropped dramatically in the last 5 years
I spent the better part of 3 years working my guts out for Cisco (TAC). I got multiple promotions and recognitions, at the time I was spending 10-12 hrs a day and just slogging myself, thinking I was working towards helping make a better company. I made it after 1 year to the coveted "Blue Badge" status, being converted from a contractor to a Cisco Employee.
During the 2020 restructure, our whole center got dropped (including managers). I was also dropped and given a payout. The whole process was surreal, degrading and just plain gross. One day we get a "Team meeting" Calendar invite, we all join the Webex and we get told stone cold by a HR lady who was on the call that our center has been selected for restructure . The whole team was told 2 months before the end date we're on the chopping block, pretty much the whole team just tapped out, nobody worked and everyone just logged on and let tickets sit in the queue all day.
Cisco is possibly the worst and best company I've worked for. Just insane. You grow up wanting to work for a company, put so much effort into the interview process and the work. To just get thrown to the street because Chuck wanted to save $1b to increase the share price by a few points.
It is too late. We can't attract or retain talent.
A phrase no longer used, that was common back then, was, "Cisco family".
When I joined Cisco, the phrase "cisco family" was still used for some time. I realized quite quickly that this is a quite abusive family.
A phrase no longer used, that was common back then, was, "Cisco family". There was a feeling of being part of something. Ah.. there again, perhaps it's me feeling nostalgic for those days. I do question myself as to why I keep checking in to this web site. I was the same when Mr Brad Reese was active having a go at Cisco. Never quite figured that out, ironically, maybe, it's because I still care about cisco Systems.
I care about trying to get as much rsu and bonuses as possible for my team. Challenge is, there is not much to distribute so anything I get is so diluted it’s not anything that would leave an impression. I’m sticking around just long enough to find something else.
Let me guess…this was 19 years ago 🤔🙄
It's not 2003 anymore