My "Mentality" is this.
I am a smart engineer. I do a good job and my customers and colleagues like me (for the most part). I consistently do more than I am asked to do and help my teammates out whenever possible. I want my partner to succeed and my manager to look good.
I have gotten above average ratings for my entire 10+ years at Cisco.
This s---s. It is demoralizing and fosters ill will toward the company I (used to) love.
It's telling. Cisco has been fighting the LCTA battle on all fronts (Lowest Cost, Technically Acceptable). The argument Cisco posits is that Value and long term Total Cost of Ownership should be the main factors in a purchase yet that philosophy seems not to extend to their own employees.
This ritual of mass layoffs every summer is soul-crushing. Cisco is already a challenging place to work. Now, when our kids are home for summer vacation, the stress-inducing "Rats on a sinking ship" scenario plays itself out. Managers go silent, co-workers look worn out and productivity all but ceases. Cisco's management is so consumed by quarterly profit and annual outcomes that they are destroying the culture that made Cisco successful in the first place.
One of two things will happen to me.
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I will get LR'd and be sad about it for awhile. I'll get over it, find a new job and life will go on.
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I will survive this round, go to GSX and start fresh ( A little bit more worn out). I probably won't update my resume or look for a new job. I'll hit reset and start supporting my customer the best I can. Around June next year I'll start to get a pang of stress and wonder what it is...
or, I will get fed up, reach my tolerance level and go to work at a competitor (The best revenge is a life well lived)
I have seen individual managers and people at Cisco do amazing and generous things and they will continue to do so. What has changed is the culture that used to encourage that behavior now stifles it.