Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

...spending money on Oprah and Obama...

So the cost of these two is significant against the many hundreds of billions in revenue over the past decade? Didn't they teach any of you the concept of orders of magnitude and scientific notation in your elementary school? It was on calculators in 1972.

We're too busy making sure people who are confused about their gender are pacified and catered too[sic]...

I'm still amazed at how many people are so insecure in their identity that they can't accept that in a "free country" people will make choices for themselves that you wouldn't for yourself. Being a straight white guy bringing my wife to company parties was never an issue and friends with other preferences bringing a partner should be as welcome as we were. Attending new company parties for holidays outside my cultural experience was both fun and educational, not threatening, and strengthened some important friendships. That the company needs to run courses on the golden rule is sad and that so many still haven't figured it out even after taking the course is outright pathetic.

@elaf+1lKB3By9 Yes it’s cringe and frustrating that they spend time and money on speakers like that, but it’s just the elts play thing and marketing. There’s no “wokeness” anywhere else. Blaming that for the problems is just silly.

Cisco is woke. It's no longer the great company it once was. We're too busy making sure people who are confused about their gender are pacified and catered too, spending money on Oprah and Obama, virtual signaling about the environment, when one volcano eruption does more damage than we'll ever. Are we still a business?

I'm done. I road this train a long time. I'm going to milk it dry and in a few short years position myself on a team that sucks so I can leave with an exit package (my last milking). Meanwhile, I do what is required and sail off into the sunset. I'll try to remember the good times....

Tech industry is f*#%ed… get out.

It's all about the game and how you play it.
All about control and if you can take it.
All about your debt and if you can pay it.
It's all about pain and who's gonna make it.

Cisco is a big cow, and it will take years for all the teats to dry up completely.

Both OP and:

The PM asked me - how can we alter the survey data, so we get the results we want?

reflect the fact that Cisco uses metrics that are easily collected by machines because it is easy. Make KLOCs your metric and people cut and paste themselves a fleet of minivans. Overrun by more than 10X on a performance improvement project where the resulting code is far slower than the code it was to replace? Check it in and declare victory because even when you put the performance numbers in an EDCS document to show you failed completely no one in management will ever read it.

Fixing the culture isn't just fixing the metrics. Fixing communication, risk management, openness to engineers pointing out where things are going off the rails so the team can proactively get back on track, etc... aren't part of Cisco's culture. You could fire everyone and start from scratch but you'd never attract the replacement talent to fix this much legacy.

Practically speaking this is probably an unsolvable problem at this point and saying "but we HAVE TO DO IT!" won't make it so. Either accept that reality or move on.

Milk it like a dairy farmer. Very few that aren't milking it at this point.

I came from the sales side, so I wasn't a BU or dev person. That said, I blame the PM's and their leadership train who focus on useless features, bad UI, and just can't seem to get their licensing strategy together. A few months ago, I sat on one call on a BU tiger team, providing sales feedback on why product X wasn't selling well in our area. We reviewed the account team feedback and the answer was obvious - the solution was cr-p. The PM asked me - how can we alter the survey data, so we get the results we want? This is EXACTLY the reason Cisco is in the position it's in.