Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

@2pbo+1mOg3oiF

On behalf of the property owner/landlord, a sincere 'Thank you' for renting.

My guess would be the comp team did a review to ensure no discrimination and you were low in comparison. If you are a women...you were really screwed!

Wow 25% raise out of nowhere, lucky!

"Maybe the person who thinks throwing money away on rent is talking about SJ on;y?"

The rent in San Jose is astronomical. It's almost as if Cisco only hires people in San Jose that don't understand basic economics. Or people realize Cisco is a stepping stone to companies that pay enough for a middle class life in the Bay Area?

Maybe the person who thinks throwing money away on rent is talking about SJ on;y?

"Buying a home can be a terrible idea but it can also make you hundreds of thousands,"

This was true in my case. Nothing wrong with paying cash for your house and then <5 years later sell if for 150K+ more than what you paid and using a flat fee realtor to boot. Bidding wars are great.... when you're the seller.

There has to be nuance here. Simply saying owning a house is or is not a good idea is oversimplifying the topic. Buying a home can be a terrible idea but it can also make you hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. But if you just buy any house just to buy one, and don’t do an in depth analysis on things such as cost and location, yes you could be making an id--tic decision.

I paid off my house in 12 years and my ongoing outlays (property tax which I can write off, insurance and maintenance/upkeep) are less than a third of what I'd pay after tax in rent for a similar property. Homes have appreciated greatly here so I'm only mildly behind inflation in what I've put into the place, which includes much customization a landlord would never allow. Rent would have been a 100% loss. Whatever I lost in opportunity costs I made back by panicking early enough in 2007 to get out and then got twice as much new stock when I got back in so I didn't need to wait for the original stock rise by 100% to get back to 0. I also joined Cisco when my remote site got near SJ pay rates and Cisco targeted compensation at the 75% percentile of the industry. A one bedroom apartment in SJ would have been more than all my home expenses when I was still paying the mortgage so not living in SJ was a huge win.

Trying to do what I did ten years earlier or ten years later or in a different part of the country could have resulted in things being far worse so never underestimate the effects of luck.

Yes, mortgage is a trap created by the system. I am yet to find a reason why people think owning a house is better than renting.

Everyone I know who bought a house tells me they're now spending more than ever and this will continue for atleast 30 years. Even after you pay off your mortgage; you are trapped into some bs charges like HOA, neighbor watch, etc

Why would anyone be a homeowner? Do people not like having money???

"These people would be at the top of my list because I would know they are trapped, thereby giving me the upper hand in the business relationship."

Pretty much everyone in the Bay Area is trapped. Unless you bought a home 15 years ago, you are a wage slave in the San Jose area. The numbers don't add up at Cisco.

If I was any type of manager the first thing I would do is gauge prospective employees' lifestyles. Anybody paying for private school, ridiculously expensive cars, mortgaged up to the eyeballs, etc. These people would be at the top of my list because I would know they are trapped, thereby giving me the upper hand in the business relationship.

You better learn to play The Matrix cuz it will damn sure play you to an early grave.

I remember a long-term Cisco employee's garage doors stopped working. Between his 3 kids, mortgage, and health care costs... he was on the verge of a breakdown at work. The Sr Director enjoyed watching this transpire.

Although that's the ideal type of employee at Cisco. Living on the edge and just trying to survive every week.

it's probably a cost of living adjustment b/c you're management team has not kept up with target rewards. It's a program Fin and HR rolled out last year because so much talent was under Zone 1.

Basically your manager has not been taking care of you and Cisco had to intervene.

I would agree with the post above. Rumors are strong for layoffs in June/July.

I'd save your money now because your manager just made you a target for LR.

Parity adjustment can happen at any given time, but a 20-25% bump? Did you wake up from sleep afterward? I just never heard of that kind of bump. Either you were paid so low that CISCO HR afraid that they would get sued or there was a system glitch. Anyway, if that is true, good for you.

That's like the last meal for a death row inmate. You're on the LR train to Auschwitz.

There actually was just a small budget for an off-cycle increase. This was not likely a result of any automated program, that's a miss by your manager to not call you and congratulate you. They almost certainly put you in for it, congrats on the raise!

based on analysis of certain parameters, thresholds and complexity of assignment.

How is complexity of assignment determined by an HR algorithm?

Did that increase come from your bucket, e.g. you had less money for others' salary raises?

There are equity increases. Generally, you will get a bump if you go below the bottom of the MTTR range for your grade.

25% is huge though, mostly these are a few percent

Are you a protected class? Did you put your “identity” details in WorkDay? They have algorithms that adjust “fairness” so maybe you tripped one of those. Normally if you just fall below the market-pay bands, they just ignore it.

I was a low level manager at Cisco a few years ago and remember a particular individual contributor received an automatic increase in pay. This was based on analysis of certain parameters, thresholds and complexity of assignment. She was a young woman and according to the analysis she was fit for an adjustment. So this occurs in Cisco, believe it or not.

I quit Cisco 19 years ago (kidding). I actually quit a few years ago due to many of the spiraling problems mentioned here. But I still believe to this day that not all is that bad at Cisco. I hope Cisco sorts their problems, but I have my doubts at this point. I really wished I could stay and develop my career over there. But I found out that my skill set and market value was rapidly deteriorated each passing quarter.

Careful or they’ll rid the glitch.