People worried about being laid off should really use Cisco to their advantage while they still can.
With a good reason or not, Cisco is still a well respected company that is a huge asset on a resume. We all know this is likely not going to last, but while it does - use it.
Update your resume right now and start sending it out, don't wait until it's too late.
The easiest thing to do in the world is sit back and worry.
@W18bbY5-2qgq is right. I was caught in the Feb 2016 LR, and I had no trouble getting an interview with nearly all the big West Coast tech companies. I didn't get offers, but that's on me and my skillset. But nevertheless I was interviewed by all of them
That's NOT true that Google or it's ilk won't interview a CSCO employee or hire them. This is complete nonsense!
I personally know many at CSCO, JNPR, etc that have obtained great jobs at FANGS.
The only thing you have to do is Leetcode like crazy for 6 months before interviewing. Serious effort for the ramp up must be done. It's NOT impossible, just a good marathon slog.
I suggest anyone who's attempting this move to PREP hard. Don't waste the interview by winging it. They'll penalize you one full year before you can try again. So Leetcode hard (if yiou don't know what Leetcode is, then Google it--this is the de-facto #1 source among techie on getting jobs at Google/FB, etc).
"but don't think Google or anyone else will see Cisco and give you a shot. You probably won't get past a phone interview"
Google and "anyone else" also has its share of fat and bad talent. Don't think they are all composed of rockstars anymore than Cisco was 25 yrs after it went IPO. I have seen ex-google folks and they are not all gods.
I am not defending Cisco. Far from it, I am arguing that companies like Cisco do not naturally lend themselves to help increase your skills with cutting edge technologies unless you are really lucky to find such a group there.
So what are your options: 1. Self train or 2. Leave somewhere you can learn these tech on the job.
Don't kid yourself. Whomever remains at Cisco these days are no longer the elite that drove Cisco to an 800 billion dollar market cap. All of those employees are long gone, rich and have moved to other silicon valley heavyweights. In 2009 when I signed my MSA, people laughed at my Cisco knowledge. The world had moved beyond routing, and even my skills were pathetic. There is always Arista and Juniper, but don't think Google or anyone else will see Cisco and give you a shot. You probably won't get past a phone interview
Every company in the world (including CSCO) looks for employees with up-to-date skills, but they are not going to pay for your training is my experience. So, you need to do one of 2 things: either self-train by working late nights or weekends on top of your current job or get another job that you have the skills for but you will also need to learn new skills.
CSCO was not helpful in training employees new skills. Like someone said, trust your own skills and don't depend on an employment.
On the positive side, there are still a lot of developer jobs to be had. Most of the employees who got into CSCO will get some of these.
from my personal experience (developer) people outside have become very skeptical of the quality and quantity of work being done in csco, esp for people like me who stayed too long (15+ years).
the name no longer carries the weight of old as the world has moved on to other things and embedded + C is likely to elicit polite bored yawns mostly. somehow i managed to learn new stuff , fall back on some old experiences and make my way out.
mileage in areas like marketing and sales may be better, as csco is still a formidable force in that area.