Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

There is a reason Cisco stopped doing [presenting] performance reviews...

FTFY.

It also means they are older.... so the bigger surprise is why Cisco hasn't been hit with a class action lawsuit for age discrimination. If you're laid off, you will get documentation showing statistics around everyone else laid off - check out the average age.

Cisco has deep pockets and too many lawyers to make it worth trying for a class action lawsuit. Besides, in any class action, the lawyers are the only ones who make any money out of the deal.

Cisco has you sign paperwork agreeing to arbitration instead of lawsuits when you start your employment, and they offer a bigger than average "severance" package if you sign the agreement not to sue, so most people just take the money and run since fighting Cisco is an uphill battle.

I've seen the documentation. They break it up by BU instead of including the entire company, so first off, that makes it easier to work the numbers to make age discrimination harder to prove. Secondly, they'll sacrifice just enough younger people in the same pay grade / job title to offset the oldest people let go and keep the average age at around 39 (since age discrimination only protects those over 40). Lastly, they claim it's a "limited restructuring" due to the need to "cut costs" and you are "just too expensive", that it's not about your age at all and because they're an "at will" employer where you or they can end the employment relationship at any time for no reason at all, they don't have to provide any reason other than you're too expensive. All that makes it hard to prove age discrimination.

OP, I've heard that some orgs will have a group meeting to notify people, but I think most of that is for teams/groups that are outside of the US and Canada where the HR rules are different.

In the US, the manager is supposed to inform you. In some rare cases, the Sr Manager (if one exists) or the Director will inform you and it's usually a case where the manager is being impacted as well.

Usually, for announced LR's, the announcement is made during an earnings call and then within a few hours of the earnings call, your manager or higher will send you a meeting invite for first thing the next morning and inform you. They have 3 business days to notify you, but they usually manage it on the first day. Most managers will just call it a 1:1 or a meeting, and it won't have an agenda. I know one person who happened to be on PTO out of state for the week of the earnings call when a LR was announced and his/her manager had to read the HR script to him over Webex. I guess you could ignore text messages and phone calls from your manager if you're on PTO, but it's not going to change or delay your LR date.

The exception to the announcement followed by the meeting invite is when they do the "voluntary" LR like they did in '21 or maybe '22. They announced that an LR was coming, that "at risk" employees would be notified, and they could either voluntarily take the longer LR package immediately, or they could stay and try to find an internal role on another team in the next 30, 45, or 60 days--I don't recall how long it was--and if they didn't find a new role, they would be LR'd with a package that was shortened by the number of days they had to look for the new role. That effectively made the severance packages equivalent except that you spent your time working part time and looking for an internal job part time instead of just taking the money and running and looking for a job outside of Cisco instead of letting your peers that left early snag the good jobs currently out there while you tried to find non-existent internal roles that the ELT said you were going to be given higher consideration for over outside hires.

Which option the ELT goes with is unknown, but my bet would be on the former instead of the latter.

You’ll get a meeting on your calendar by your manager or director (no HR). I got mine at 10 PM the night before (LR’d in October and then rehired) They read you the script and that’s it. Then you get an email with the severance package and everything you need to know.

Work my behind off while others on the team was BS-ing with management on their great work even though they barely did any work. Flew back on Friday night and got the message to cancel my travel for the week after and to meet on Tuesday. What a jerk of a manager!

Yep, the company will depend on younger, lower cost employees, as well as the collection of off shore smag. Neither have consulting skills that are worth what is being charged. Cisco knows this and yet the dei check boxes and chuckie boy don't get it. bgl and mx are failed service organizations. The mx PM team is pathetic and cisco should be embarassed even asking customers to pay for that, let alone leave the domestic services orgs (Engineers) to help out to get them pointed right. Ever think about a real PMO? Cisco had one at one point. Although bgl has some usable engineers, no one wants to pay for someone that they can't talk to in an understandable language. They don't want a a rookie or someone with 2 years of experience and no ability to be proactive. Thought that was the point. Oh well, go short on this one for the next 2 qtrs, longer if mm, chuck, or any of the other excuses remain around or they bring in a suit from that failed country to sc--w things even further.

We lay off the best employees.

Also regarding Tuesday / Thursday; no HR in mix whatsoever. All direct manager. Spineless. He knew what was going on, and still let me make travel reservations the prior Thursday. Of course, he is still there. High caliber leadersh1t.

It will happen out of the blue.

Thursday: booked tickets to fly out-of-state for meeting. Normal day.

Following Tuesday: the infamous meeting invite appeared in evening; next morning was the infamous script reading followed by email with notification.

Sanitized and sterilized; no warning.

There is a reason Cisco stopped doing performance reviews.....they no longer have to justify cuts based on performance. More likely - 10 to 20 year tenured employees are being targeted because they cost more than younger employees. Anybody can understand that. It also means they are older.... so the bigger surprise is why Cisco hasn't been hit with a class action lawsuit for age discrimination. If you're laid off, you will get documentation showing statistics around everyone else laid off - check out the average age.