The growth of Cisco was/is built on acquisitions. When the business was growing in the 1990 and early 2000, this was not a problem. However, this strategy is working against Cisco now because the core and culture of Cisco have become very corrupt and toxic. Once a new acquisition is merged into Cisco, it soon become a liability from an asset. One can easily see what happens to Meraki and Splunk lately to understand this. With the increased headcount and a flat top line, mass layoffs are a required to keep the company afloat under a bunch of incompetent management.
An on point post by @b1+1k7yphywd.