Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

Hoping for a bad outcome for those that treated the previously impacted poorly.

Presumably that sales leader got told to go get artemis engaged.
They just hired the 1st hit on google :)
Now the entire ELT are smoking pot, it would explain a lot!!

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Who was the genius in Sales that hired all these Artemis/Growth people from outside, with no clue what they are really supposed to be doing? Only to have a layoff in Feb. These folks are coming in and don't even know the products or tools, and are somehow going to replace seasoned people in 3 months time?

I'm so sorry for your situation. The United States is disgusting that it does not protect their workers at all like other countries. No one has it in their life plan that they stand a high chance of getting laid off once they're over 50 and you'll won't have the luxury to make your own decision about when to 'retire', it's happened to a remarkable number of people in the same age group that I know, including myself.
I did notice that when Cisco provided the report to me on the list of titles and respective ages that were laid off, they stuffed the list full of positions from past 4 quarters that simply had not been backfilled due to financial reasons, these were not laid off employees, these were simply younger employees that left their role to go elsewhere masking the true age demographics of the LR. I know for sure as our BU name, title of position was listed on each line, was not hard to figure out these weren't actual LRd roles.
The ELT makes sure they never skip a beat in richly compensating themselves for such amazing work even through LRs.

To be fair, if I had been laid off and ended up homeless I'd be bitter too.

On the shunning, there was an email sent out in one BU that did indeed say to avoid and limit contact with those on the LR list. So, yes, I can confirm that it does happen.

Cisco hr manipulating up and down votes

OP, you're definitely bitter. IF you were "genuinely were FAMILY", you wouldn't be "bragging" about bing able to "get each one of them fired for the intimate things we've shared and that I know about them". Sounds like they could probably get you in trouble too.

I've seen no evidence of the leadership team (at all levels) encouraging "the shunning" of the LR'd. Even when I got on a manager's bad side after a skip level, when I was LR'd and another guy gave his 2-weeks notice the day the 2 of us were notified that we were being LR'd, they gave all 3 of us a going-away party. I'm sure I was invited because it would have been awkward to have a party for the other LR'd guy and the guy who was quitting and excluding me, but hey, they had it and everyone showed up for free food.

And to the other person, I am homeless now. Cancer, disabled spouse, massive damage to home from a freak natural disaster. I had plenty of savings. I was not a fool so knock off that line of BS. I planned for contingencies.

So having cancer, a disabled spouse, and having massive damage to your home from a freak natural disaster is Cisco's fault? You're not the only person who's been LR'd from Cisco with a disabled spouse. Join the club. I'm sorry that you lost everything, but don't blame Cisco for it. You said you "planned for contingencies", so I can only assume you had insurance on your home and that it would have paid for the massive damages.

Try getting laid off when the "dot com" bubble burst in the early 2000's, have a non-working disabled spouse, live & work in the telecom corridor in the D/FW metro area, and have Delta announce that they're no longer going to have DFW as one of the hubs and cut 100's of flights into & out of DFW on a daily basis. I not only had to leave the area to find work, I had to sell my home at a substantial loss because people weren't moving into the area to buy homes. But I'm not on some layoff site whining about that company letting me go, especially when they cut just a few of us to get the company's numbers below 50 so they could close the entire office 6 months later w/o having to comply with the WARN requirements. They let me go such that my employment/severance ended on Dec 29th because they paid their 401(k) matching annually to all employees on Dec 31st instead of matching payday-to-payday. That was a layoff decision with malicious intent to save money. The severance package was a measly 2 weeks plus 2 weeks for agreeing not to sue and they reminded me of my 2-yr agreement of non-compete stating I couldn't go to work for their customers and/or competitors which was virtually every technical employer in the area.

I've been able to find employment three times since turning 50. The first was a FTE role, but I ended up not being a good fit for the company and quit as soon as my new-hire commitment was complete so that I could keep the sign-on bonus. The next one was a contractor role which eventually turned into a FTE conversion. While age certainly makes it harder to find jobs, it's not a blacklist. I think it's harder than you think to hide the chip on your shoulder.

@2fus+1qLpQout, I don't think Cisco encourages people to shun or ghost people. I haven't seen it on any of the teams I've been on. I think your reply is 100% spot on.

But that's not to say that it doesn't happen in other BU's or on other teams, or in other countries. Or that people who weren't liked very well in the office aren't shunned.

I know that, while I haven't shunned anyone, there was one guy who really seemed to like me and I couldn't get away from him. He'd invite himself to go to lunch w/ me and others and was very opinionated. I don't think anyone was unhappy to see him let go, and while I responded to any messages he sent to me, I didn't initiate any contact either.

@1odq+1qLpQout, it's equal parts Internet trolls, bitter ex-employees, recent ex-employees, and current employees who are just reading and replying to current posts.

If you got LR'd and people ghosted you... They did that for a reason and I don't think the LR was the reason.

+100 - I was LR'd from Cisco because I got on one particular manager's bad side because I said something at a skip level that got back to him. I've been back for 10+ yrs on a different team and even though I was persona non-grata w/ that manager, I'm still friendly w/ many people from that original team who are still at Cisco. No one from that team ghosted me except for the su-k-ups that had their noses so far up that manager's a$$ they couldn't see the light of day. Well, he's been gone for years and so are most of them, but I'm still here.

Cisco encourages "the shunning" of the LRed.

How is this done? I've seen layoffs at every company I've worked at for 40 years and I've never seen any company try to discourage connections outside of work. I still keep in touch with friends who were laid off from Cisco 10-20 years ago.

People aren't wired to accumulate endless deep friendships. Many of us lost track with most of our high school friends in college, college friends as we entered the workforce, old coworkers as we voluntarily change jobs and everyone when we start a family. I'm old and like most of my friends I have only one or two friends from each of many different stages in life, and for reasons someone far wiser than I might be able to answer it's extremely difficult to bring together friends from those different stages in the same place. These friendships survive because both sides keep putting in the effort - it doesn't happen on its own.

These were people I knew for decades. Very close friends outside of work as well, people I worked with at former companies. Far beyond coworkers.

He-l, I could get each one of them fired for the intimate things we've shared and that I know about them. They genuinely were FAMILY. Two in particular I've known most of my adult life. Yes, I'm in and have been in, a great deal of pain about two in particular. Wouldn't even say goodbye to me on my last day when I reached out. Again, these WERE FAMILY in almost every way. We "grew up" together.

Cisco encourages "the shunning" of the LRed. Evil? Evil is a leadership team that has created such a culture. Evil is people who go along with it and treat dear friends like I was treated. Evil is the callous disregard for others.

And to the other person, I am homeless now. Cancer, disabled spouse, massive damage to home from a freak natural disaster. I had plenty of savings. I was not a fool so knock off that line of BS. I planned for contingencies.

As to why I am still unemployed, I don't know. Perhaps Cisco has somehow blacklisted me. I've never had a problem in the past. Yes, I can fake being "not bitter." I am highly skilled and have continued to upskill, get certs, network, do some freelance work, ect.

My "sin" perhaps is that I just turned 50 when the LR occurred.

But you're not bitter that _you_ were let go right?

This board looks to be mainly ex employees with a grudge. Cisco ain't great but move on with your life.

If you got LR'd and people ghosted you... They did that for a reason and I don't think the LR was the reason.

OP, your post sounds incredibly bitter. I wonder how much exaggeration your comment was about losing everything and how much you brought upon yourself with your bitter attitude.

I know that interviewers do not want to hear you say bad things about your previous employer because someday the new company will be your old company and they don't want to have you saying bad things about them.

I've had my share of lay-offs, some of which were due to company mergers and then later reductions like what Cisco does, some of which were due to a company going out of business, or a company closing all offices in a given state while keeping other offices in different states open. Other than a layoff that occurred just months after 9/11, I've never had a hard time finding new work. Every layoff I've had, with the exception of Cisco, the employer simply gave 2-weeks pay in lieu of notice, and then offered an additional 2 weeks pay (and sometimes an extra week per year of service) if you signed the agreement not to sue. None of them gave 60-days notice or months of severance, months of COBRA payments, so if I can find work without losing everything with only 4 weeks of severance, you've got to ask yourself why it took you so long to find a new job w/ close to 6 months of severance and 6 months of COBRA payments that you "lost everything". I don't think Cisco had anything to do with your losing everything even if their decision to lay you off is what precipitated your loss.

People don’t ghost you to hurt you. They do it because they are afraid. They are in fear mode. They looked up to you and just watched this happen. It’s a reflection of poor management. Good managers care about people. They may not share vulnerability. But they show that they are human and give you space to be human too.

What are people afraid of that results in them ghosting someone? Helping someone find a new role doesn't move them up on the LR list for the next round. Actually, helping someone find a new role helps you so that when the LR list finally has your name on it, you have friends at new places who remember that you helped them and they'll pass that help along to you in return.

While I haven't kept in touch w/ everyone I've known at Cisco who's been LR'd or even quit to take new opportunities, I did keep in touch w/ them while they were looking for jobs and passed on any recruiter contacts for roles I thought they could interview for. I tried to stay in touch w/ them for as long as they responded back. Those that stayed in contact for a year or more I consider friends. The rest were just acquaintances.

Believe me, if/when I see any former Cisco employees who've ghosted me when it is/was my time, I won't be very inclined to assist them in their job search when it's their turn.

When I was LR'd from one team many yrs ago, the manager and several of my closest team mates put favorable reviews on my LinkedIn profile. I've done the same for others that I respected that have left (voluntarily or otherwise) so that, in the event the next role doesn't last long, there's a good review from their previous role. Treat others the way you want to be treated and hopefully others will treat you the same.

Luckily, at that time, I had a very different role than most developers who were let go at the same time as me, so there wasn't really any competition between them and myself for jobs and we shared info about possible openings with each other. I know for a fact that I helped provide 6 people assistance in getting new jobs because I got a referral bonus for 4 of them. And the person who helped me get my next gig got a referral bonus for helping me. Sometimes it pays to not ghost people.

No matter what happens always be nice to people. What goes around will come around. It’s only a freaking job.

We are telling truths and facts on this board, please no need to be evil minded.

You should very bitter. Some bitterness is expected. But wishing bad things on others is just evil. Is this what you aspire to be in the world?

Being ghosted feels personal. It’s hard to understand how you can be close to someone everything changes in an instant. You spend a lot of your life at work. Sometimes you’ve known these people for a long time, maybe even years. It hurts to be treated poorly in this manner. It hurts bad.

Many people don’t realize how hurtful it feels to be ghosted by nearly every person you’ve worked with.

But two wrongs don’t make a right. People don’t ghost you to hurt you. They do it because they are afraid. They are in fear mode. They looked up to you and just watched this happen. It’s a reflection of poor management. Good managers care about people. They may not share vulnerability. But they show that they are human and give you space to be human too.

I hope your bitterness is mostly word vomit. How long were you employed and how long ago were you impacted?

You mean we're not one big "family" bringing our "authenic self" to work each day?

I’m not wishing anything bad on these people. However, they will understand how it all works very shortly.

Bitter much ?? seems these people are living rent free inside your head…. You got impacted yet still living inside Cisco without getting paid….

Good luck to you and your family…. But wishing ill on others will only make your situation worse…

In a better world the people who are causing far more damage than they are offsetting with productivity should be going, and if you clear all of them out then move on to the deadwood. It needs to start at the top as that's where the greatest damage is done.