Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

They are not random. There is a checklist where management scrolls down a list of names in their team along with what they cost annually and pick from there. In my case I got selected because of where I am located and how much i cost. Performance most often does not matter nor does workload. If it means for one person to end up doing work for 2 or more so be it. Cisco doesn't give a flying fu-k about its people as the machine will keep running anyway. But this has already been said and proven plenty of times.

Honestly anyone over 35. Thought it was over that but nope. Tech competes with the other big companies who think over 35 is grannies with walkers. Oh and a female over 35? Even worse. It's not fair but it's true.

@et managers are going. Are you a middle manager. A useless project manager. Pontificating as a "leader" is unhelpful as you are on the chopping block

As a manager, I can say that sometimes you need to cut those at a higher grade because you were told x amount would be cut from your budget. Sometimes, who is cut makes sense because their position is not as relevant, someone else could consume it or your impact has decreased. At this point, I think most teams are faced with hard decisions. You’ll be cutting good employees regardless. I would recommend learning as much as you can. Don’t let potential LRs steal your peace. By the time you learn of it, the decision has already been made.

They will get rid of anything that is nontechnical. It's simply not needed anymore. Gone are the days of traditional office workers as AI ramps up.

Bottom Line - If you do not do not create anything physical, or fix anything you are toast by mid-2027

If you just send or answer emails, make a chart here and there, book meetings, say jargon, make updates that nobody reads. If no actual tangible product is created by you - same thing. Gone. Like obsolete gone..as in not replaced.

Nontechnical is how you get paid to do almost nothing. The company will pay you wayyy over what people with real jobs make. Like $170k ! I know.

I'm a SL-SCBE-PPM-SSSO-EES

(Senior Leader of Strategic Circle-Back Enablement, PowerPoint Project Management, Soft Skills Sales Optimization & Executive Emailer Synergy)

I wasn't in San Jose or Bangalore but I was in a technical role at a remote site. HR and anything else that could be concentrated at the main sites were the first to go. Cisco's larger platforms had development teams around the world and they started by cutting back at the remote sites then ultimately moved work to the main sites knowing they were still going to be laying off people there but eliminating managing a lot of tiny distributed teams along the way.

Being young, talented, underpaid, upbeat, under a politically powerful management chain at a big site where you have "visibility" and working on something considered critical for the company are all required to be relatively safe. Notice I didn't say anything about being able to do your job which was rarely a criteria for being laid off and as it turns out sc--wing up in a truly massive way without doing anything useful to offset that often lead to being promoted.

how come newish employee already at this site posting new threads?? Why did you join #1 best place to work, then.

It's easy to say layoffs are generally done quarterly, but sometimes they come as a surprise, like during the Q4 FY26 earnings call during which the company announced record earnings and 4,000 layoffs all in the same sentence.

Age does play a factor, but the company has ways of avoiding being sued for age discrimination.

All positions are at risk at any given time.

Make sure you put your pronouns in workday and your Webex profile, and be sure to announce them on every meeting when you introduce yourself. It’s like a vaccination against being LR’d, no matter how terrible you are at your job.

If youre a foreigner non white and not making a huge salary youre are probably ok. There will be an older white guys with a higher salary that get let go so 3 like you can stay. Also If youre g-y and brown youre guaranteed a job for life.

Just focus on yourself and learning as much as possible

LRs today are ... for lack of real data anywhere ... random. lots of us joke about FK tossing darts at employee identification #s for fun. I have a feeling they (ELT) know where they are going to cut 3-6 months in advance, but even your VP is unlikely to know until days or ~1 week beforehand. In the "old" days leaders could argue to save somone or were even ghasp allowed to pick their lowest performers. Those days are long gone. imho.. it's a legal game they play to make it appear "fair" to protect the company from lawsuits.

@OP no one knows for sure. If you need a job, I hope your position is safe.