Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

No career path at Cisco UK if you are Grade 10 or above. Best not to believe the hype ridden ppts peddled by the local VP and SED. Loads of company with much higher pay are hiring in the UK: PAN, Cloudflare, Fortinet … at least you will make some money there instead of being a lowly paid “yes” person.

Does that really mean one remains on the same grade level from age 34 to age 65 (retirement)?. That is scary. How is it possible to find motivation?

There is a reason McDonalds doesn't have Principal Friolator Engineer 43s earning $500,000/yr to cook french fries.

I noticed you didn't post job responsibilities. The need for people at each successively higher level shrinks rapidly to the point where there just isn't a need for any greater capability. For software most people in the industry top out at Senior Engineer which before Cisco created an infinite number of levels for each title was Engineer 4, and back then Cisco had quite a few people aged 60+ at that level.

People who want to perform above this level work at well run companies that can start with a clean sheet, develop large scale systems and keep releasing updates with new features on time and on budget. Less well run companies move Senior Engineers into a management track where they expect them to do some of the systems and architecture work they couldn't do to advance in the technical track and things often go wrong. Cisco can't do any of this because their senior technical and managerial leadership simply don't have the skills which is why they still need to acquire.

@2lif+1ovjlWOW Yes, last few years personnel and career management in UKI org has declined to the level of decision making based on gossips fed by their cronies and I speak from experience. It's a sad shadow of the days of dynamicity. I was very fortunate enough to move to another org internally. Most people worth their salt have left courtesy of the toxic culture. Very few are around that are actually competent. Most of the rest are unnecessary burden on the payroll.

Don’t know about other geos but there is no career here in UK unless you are a member of “the team” and know how to play the political stack. Hard work, talent, certifications, coding - nothing matters or helps. You need to be in the political circle of the SED and VP or else you either stagnate or get LRed eventually. Quality is not a priority.

Problem is, in this kind of environment you get put in a box and your abilities don’t matter, you even struggle to get interviews for internal roles. Once you work in technical “sales” you get defined as a sales weasel and people question your abilities to code or engineer solutions despite your GitHub repository or despite how many internal/external coding competitions you may have won or participated in. Your ability simply don’t matter as you get boxed in a highly politicised environment where only nepotism and cosmetic wokeness get priorities. I am in a desperate situation. Would love to stay here but can’t find a way to move o anything meaningful and no matter how many projects I work at to prove my capability , I get boxed in. Some of my coworkers moved last year, some internally, one guy in another team left for a startup - I am thinking of doing the same . Either that or wait for the inevitable career stagnation. Cisco’s reputation outside is so poor, it’s literally impossible to find a non-direct Sales type role with any technical responsibilities at any organisation of any repute.

Recommend get out while you can. This company is run by prima Donnas , narcissistic politicians, localised management that are focussed on setting up their own fiefdoms and technology has ceased to have any importance .

not if you are part of the Tribe

It means you switch companies to obtain pay increases every 2 or 3 years.