Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

Lots of comments around Feb Layoffs - Too early to start talking May layoffs?

To those who will be affected in Feb I feel for you and hope you all deal with the challenges in new role hunting - but I am confident in the growth we see around tech and those who work hard will land a new role and hopefully even double-dip for a period! But we all know when the next earnings call is - May. I dont know if the creative agencies will be able to come up with another story line to hide the sheer lack of investment/innovation at this once great company, and unfortunately I think many would agree there will be more LR conversations leading into the May call. It is unfortunately a quarterly cycle now, and the conspiracy theory part of my mind starts to wonder - is this intentional? Is there an overall outcome or hidden agenda that the company is driving towards? I could understand if it is just basic survival mode.... but that cannot be it alone...

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Post ID: @OP+1qGkdVNX

13 replies (most recent on top)

You won't believe how much abuse Cisco customers are willing to take. It will be a very LONG time for Cisco to demise.

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Post ID: @1jpw+1qGkdVNX

Heard from the same source in UKI org who predicted the LRs in last August and Oct-Nov 2023 because the source had heard it from the UK SE director: the said director hopes to become the VP in UKI. Apparently DM is gone. DM, as useless as he is, that specific replacement will be much worse, if true. Got to go get my rabid shots!

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Post ID: @1pas+1qGkdVNX
Revenue decimated, along with headcount.

Cisco had record revenues in FY2023 and also its highest headcount, so good job 👍!

Robbins has been lethal to Cisco.

Robbins didn't do the first couple decades of acquisitions while building no development skills and creating four different routing/switching operating systems with endless branches each causing Cisco to have to spend most of its development dollars on "bug fixing." All that was everyone's favorite CEO John Chambers. Revenue was going downhill in 2014 which is probably why Cisco started looking for a replacement to start in 2015. Given the state of the company I'm not sure Cisco's ultimate slow demise wasn't already inevitable since before Chuck took over, or that Cisco could have found someone much better willing to take the job.

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Post ID: @1ohp+1qGkdVNX
...Cisco’s dire software quality written by cheap 20 year old Indian employees...

The software was cr-p a decade before the people you mention were born, and before the intercontinental links were able to support major development around the world. Cisco has never had software development skills.

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Post ID: @1pou+1qGkdVNX

Cisco is laying off Americans while they hire H1's.

Awesome

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Post ID: @1sic+1qGkdVNX

Soo many worthless management who know absolutely nothing about technology but just play games and politics. How they survive year after year is mind boggling. And then we have good ICs bring dropped like it's nothing

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Post ID: @swc+1qGkdVNX

Talking about Google their CEO has said about the recent LRs it made “ These job cuts were about removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas.”
That in part is what is needed at Cisco, I work as an IC and I often have to give (as do others in my team) presentations to my manager about projects, who gives a breakdown to his manager, who then gives a breakdown to his manager. We should get rid of some of these layers so that we can work at a proper pace and reduce a lot of the politicking which is emdemic in Cisco.
I’ve been with the company six years and in that time I’ve had four managers. One I never saw (unless he needed something), one who was always politicking, one who was/is very good(unfortunately moved due to restructuring in our org), and my latest one who was a peer, but promoted to manager and looks out for his best interests.
In short 3 out of 4 have been average at best, and assume similar across Cisco, so think there is big room for cuts to reduce the layers.

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Post ID: @dzn+1qGkdVNX

if Google is laying off 10k employees, then old dinosaur Cisco will be cutting about 20k.

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Post ID: @myo+1qGkdVNX

Let's get through the Feb. 14 earnings call first before speculating about the one after that!

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Post ID: @wxe+1qGkdVNX

Cisco has always been run by sales and marketing. That may have worked in the past when a ton of BS and flattery could win big deals. Those days long gone and solutions are now judged on their merits and Cisco’s dire software quality written by cheap 20 year old Indian employees on a few dollars a day whilst Cisco runs customers a fortune for it is not going to end well

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Post ID: @udm+1qGkdVNX

The strategy is to prepare the inevitable outcome. Cisco's market share is shrinking in every single technology area. A few years from now, governments is all Cisco will be selling to. Revenue decimated, along with headcount. Robbins has been lethal to Cisco.

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Post ID: @xbc+1qGkdVNX

You're depriving people here from asking "ARE THERE GOING TO BE LAYOFFS IN MARCH?" and "ARE THERE GOING TO BE LAYOFFS IN APRIL?"

Cisco's executives said ages ago that a company that requires annual layoffs is poorly managed. If it weren't for Cisco's ability to acquire well in the 1990s and starve out big players by denying them even niche markets they'd be little more than a footnote. The rest of management has been incompetent the whole way through and it only became apparent when the endless cash cycle ended and Cisco started layoffs in 2001. We're now almost 23 years since that first major layoff and Cisco's management is still incompetent.

This is the way things were, the way they are, and without some massive triggering event how things are going to remain. There is no need to keep asking every month.

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Post ID: @xcv+1qGkdVNX

Brother, one quarter at a time. Patience.

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Post ID: @tba+1qGkdVNX

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