I haven't been here long but I'm already getting tired of the constant anxiety about whether and when there will be more cuts, whether I'll be a target even though I'm doing my best, etc.
When did constant layoffs become the norm here?
I guess this wasn't always a place where rumors about cuts are never baseless and where everyone is in constant fear of losing their job.
5 replies (most recent on top)
Layoffs were brought into fashion by John Chambers idol Jack Welch of GE in the first half of the 1980s. Cisco has been dumping people periodically since 2001.
I’m more curious where Cisco’s interview process was replaced with the one question “do you think you’ll work here forever?” because this hasn’t been news for DECADES and yet it perpetually surprises Cisco employees.
The fact that you’re all posting to a site called thelayoff.com which has lots of posts about lots of companies should have been the clue that this has been ongoing both inside and outside Cisco.
For the people who think telecommuting for six-plus digits a year is “slavery” go off and create your own company. Cisco pays big bucks to acquire what their six-plus digit a year talent can’t produce at Cisco.
@xye+1jW1Dzw6, LR's were much smaller and quieter between 2001 and 2008. I recall an entire BU in Richardson, TX being shutdown in the early 2000's because my manager from a previous company went to work for Cisco in '98 and was let go from Cisco in '01 I think as part of that BU shutdown.
When I joined in '06, there weren't many "LR's", but there was the annual purge of the "bottom 5%" where you were put on a performance improvement plan (PIP) if you were in the bottom 5%. Managers played games w/ the ratings to either get rid of people or just cycled people in the middle 60% into and out of the bottom 10% and bottom 5% and back up to the middle 60% to keep them around while protecting the top 20% w/ bigger bonuses funded by the lost bonus to the bottom 10%.
Now, instead of taking a year or two to put someone into the bottom 5% and using a PIP to get rid of them, they just do "restructuring" and cut the expensive workers instead of the people who don't perform. That seemed to start around 2008 and became mainstream once the "People Deal" replaced the annual performance reviews.
Anyone ready for their mid-year "talent review"?
Continuous layoffs since 2008 or 2009?
Layoffs help with stock buybacks, acquisitions, and dividends. We can quietly layoff full-time employees and replace them with contractors. No need to pay contractors health insurance, 401k, PTO, or worry about severance.
Also layoffs are a great way to send more jobs to countries without labor laws. Indias caste system is ideal for maximizing corporate profits... it's essentially legalized slavery
LR's have been going since 2001 and is the heart of Cisco culture
Just like Nortel and the other mismanaged companies, this trend will never end
They lay off because they are not posting profits to keep the investors happy.
So you are just another number to them.
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