i have been with cisco for 16 yrs and have never seen my coworkers so unhappy. recently a top networking expert on our team left with no package at all for happier places
many on my team are not motivated at all
these are people who used to typically work 60 hr weeks and love their work
Not any more and it makes me sadder
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its funny, I had a manager in a different org ask me why so many early in careers left around the 3-5 year mark. he just couldn't understand why people would do well and seem committed their first few years and then the retention rate dropped off a cliff. I thought he was joking at first- he wasn't...
i guess jumping for 20-30% more money when people realize how meager Cisco comp is never occurred to him...
5 years is far too long to stay here if you're early in career. 2-3 years TOPS. You will become stagnant and managers clearly don't care about your career progression. Get some work experience and move on as soon as you can.
everyone I work with has been giving 10% effort since the layoff announcement. I have personally switched to doing the absolute minimum. There is no reason to actually put effort into Cisco anymore. Everyone should spend 90% of their time looking for a new job elsewhere. If you are still drinking the Cisco koolaide by now, you should get your head examined.
The OP could very well be talking about me. I had finally had enough of the place and left. Cisco is a cult and people who have been in it long enough are scared to leave.
Career progression within the company is non-existent unless you know how to 'play the game'- its not done on merit. There are managers who have been coasting in their current role for years just wanting to get to retirement. They have no desire to motiviate and help their direct reports with career progression / advancement. They have merely become 'resource allocators' that manage a budget - nothing more. There are of course some excpetions, but not many.
I regret very much staying in Cisco as long as I did. For anyone early in their career I would say to them now not to stay longer than 5 years, and don't worry too much if you don't have a CCIE. As long as you have transferable skills (e.g. Python, Ansible, decent knowledge of current network trends) and a proactive attitude you're fine.
If you are in a position where you believe your manager is not listening or you are not seeing real career progression or job satisfaction, then don't hang around thinking it will change.... it won't. Be proactive and make that change yourself. Your manager dosen't deserve to have you in their team!
People that I work with nowadays haven’t done a single shred of work for 3 weeks
No motivation of bringing your best when your employer has NO investment in you!
When I was in the military, you were on duty 24/7/365. You might only work the normal 0730-1630 day in and day out, but you had to respond when called in for whatever reason. You were expected to stay beyond 1630 if the situation required it.
But you gave your all because it was in service to your country.
When I was transitioning out, all the career advice I received was telling us how to NOT tell interviewers how we used to give 24/7 because employers don't want overtime. Sure, companies like it when you give them free overtime and will look the other way when you're salaried, but it's a liability for them.
Used to, I would spend the extra time/effort to get tasks done the right way instead of taking the simplest or shortest route to just get it done because I thought Cisco was a family and cared. Well, that was back in the early 2000's. After the mid 2000's showed that Cisco no longer cares, it's all about getting it done quickly and fixing any bugs later, probably by someone else because you may not be there by the time anyone needs to modify what you did to adjust for some platform change, add a feature or fix that possible error condition you thought wouldn't happen and didn't handle properly.
When you are constantly looking over your shoulders constantly at layoffs, this creates a culture that finally treats employers like Cisco like they treat their employees. No motivation of bringing your best when your employer has NO investment in you! Welcome to the next harvest of what this will be like moving forward. Talking to many graduates of today, they are not in for the long haul and only care about making money to support their needs. They will move constantly for the money. Cisco, you reap what you sow.
Yes, it's very sad and brings down morale across the board. I've seen it time and time again, year after year. From the mid 90s until 2001 (the company's first lay-off), Cisco was a very happy place to be. Growth was exponential, we were building/expanding the new campus in SJ and the stock was splitting every six months. Long gone are those days.
This has been my reality for a few years now. I find it hard to want to do more because I feel like I'll be tossed aside. The good thing, for me, is that COVID made my area busier which has made me happier, until this last bit of news.
Sadly it seems to be the new reality for a lot of teams. The uncertainty which is introduced in times of crisis has a major impact. Now we just need to see the next check-in where one would claim we care in the family for mental health.