Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

anyone else notice illumie looks like the sad blue girl from INSIDE OUT?

The above person that said "Cisco is not a family" is SPOT ON. So many managers tell their direct reports "we're family... we are cisco... we are the best... we are... we are.. we are...." It's easy to drink the kool aid and start to believe the BS you're being fed. I did it for 10 years until I just got LR'd (sorry, rebalanced) this January.

I think I made the mistake of opening my mouth too many times and not being a YES man. I was critical of a few BU products and our sales tactics -- constructively, mind you -- I REALLY wanted to succeed and grow the business. Instead, I was indirectly told to "sit down and shut up...."

The illuminate stuff is just to separate the woke followers from those that can actually critically think for themselves. Just my 2 cents.

They've had these Illuminate things for about two years now...isn't it also called Lumi? Who actually attends these things if you're actually busy with customers?

How can we do this to our Cisco family?

Relevant Rules of Acquisition :

6: Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.
111: Treat people in your debt like family… exploit them.
211: Employees are the rungs on the ladder of success. Don't hesitate to step on them.

"WTF has any of this BS got to do with technology??"

It's a clever method to filter out employees with any self-esteem or skills. If you can sit through Cisco seminars/conferences then you clearly don't understand the concept of inflation.

WTF has any of this BS got to do with technology??

What a ton of complete BS.

Given the topics, “Cisco Gas Lighting” would be a more fitting name to these kinds of events.

Even more astounding is watching the NPC fanfare and excitement before the call in the chat, like watching sheep party just as they’re being led to the slaughterhouse.

Pro Tip: Cisco isn’t a family. It’s a job and a company. That’s it.

Looking at other layoff’s in the industry, Cisco was very generous this time. Does it stink it has to happen? Yes. Is the business poorly managed? Yep. Is Cisco a family? Nope. Face reality.

I enjoyed the Michelle Obama session a lot more than I expected to. Which was a pleasant surprise. However, today has been a different story. The Degreed speaker was difficult to want to listen to. The LinkedIn session feels like a sales pitch, and folks in the chat were actively acknowledging that.

Illuminate seem to be a form of grooming before another layoff. I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but this feels like deja vu. We had Illuminate last year with essentially the same content (and encouragement to update your resumé and upload to the talent portal.) Then came the latest big layoff, with leadership touting the talent management portal as a perfect tool to find a new role. How coincidental. In reality, we know it has helped a very small percent of impacted employees to secure another role.

I wish I felt like Illuminate was helping me build my career at Cisco... but so far it feels like my partner is helping me update my online dating profile before dumping me. :-/

Hiring by all tech companies has come to a halting screech. Cisco is giving us a heads-up to start looking outside. The upcoming LR will be massive. LRs in May/August tends to be bigger and deeper.

The update your resume and profile is to make it easier for leaders to move people without having to have discussions about it. I’ve just seen another restructure where huge groups were moved without really checking that skills line up with their new projects. We still can’t backfill so if Joe quits we’re probably going to search the updated profiles and move someone to fill his spot with only a request to their manager.

@1wpx+1lDrpFbr, the ELT keeps saying that this most recent LR was not a cost cutting exercise, but how much money did it take to pay to have the former First Lady Michelle Obama come to a Cisco office to speak for an hour?

While I enjoyed her talk, I think it was a huge waste of company money. I noticed that the recording of her talk is only available for 2 days! I guess they didn't pay enough to be allowed to use it at later events.

What did surprise me though, was that Liz was the one who got to sit and talk w/ the former First Lady instead of Fran. I guess Fran was more of an Oprah fan or Liz burned some favors to get to do that interview. It was definitely a better interview than the one Fran had with Oprah because Fran was so fake. But they both, somehow, ended up talking about Teamspace. Such a cr---y tool. They also dropped the ball in not giving the former First Lady a head's up that Liz was going to talk about ChatGPT so that the FL could be prepared to know what it is and what it does.

Illuminate made me sick today knowing friends were just laid off yesterday, and tomorrow's agenda is going to be worse. How can we do this to our Cisco family? We are dysfunctional !!!

Because more LRs are on the menu. It's the only recipe the ELT knows.